Relentless
by mikaelsonmalfoy
Summary: There is no war. No social experiment. This is the story of Eric and a character of my own creation, this starts at initiation. Alexandria Giovanni comes from a home full of pain and is desperate to escape, she joins dauntless, where a certain leader captivates her attention. Will she get her happily ever after? Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Relentless**

 **Hi guys, this is just a little A/N for anyone who is reading my fic. This life our life, I'm taking a little break from that one because I had some inspiration for divergent. I just love Eric's character so I'm thinking of doing just a short fic for him and a character from my OC, there are going to be some awesome quotes in here so watch out for them! (disclaimer I own none of the characters or people who made these quotes) in this there is no war or social experiment and I've changed things about erudite that I didn't know so just roll with it and, hopefully it'll be awesome and you guys will enjoy it** **J** **pretty pretty please read and review! I of course don't own Eric or any others from the books or Movies Divergent.**

 **Chapter 1**

Alexandria woke up with a start panting a cold sweat covered her body and she shivered sitting up, today was the day.

The day she could leave, and it couldn't have come quickly enough; she saw the looks she had been getting the last couple of weeks and she'd started barricading her door at night pushing her wardrobe in front of it and then her bed, then she slept on her bed so that if the door moved she'd hear it and be ready.

She was in erudite so her parents were experts at covering things up by now, hell her mum had been well practised in the art since she was 19. Today was the day she could get out, she could be free from hiding things and crippling anxiety and guilt.

She'd had enough of covering bruises and worrying over whether or not her mum had internal bleeding, of undressing her and putting her in a bath to clean her wounds because she couldn't do it herself. She knew that she was leaving her faction today and her only regret would be leaving her mother.

Every morning was the same in her household, she'd have a shower eat breakfast with her parents and then they'd each go to either school or work. It was a typical family morning; however today was different, she laid in bed until the sun rose she listened to her mother get up and painstakingly coat herself in makeup, before she went and began breakfast.

She listened to her father shower and shave before she finally got up. She got ready as usual pinning her hair back in a tight bun and smoothing down her pencil skirt, before making her way into the kitchen.

There was an air of tension today and she got the sensation that this was the quiet before the storm; she hoped she wouldn't be here for the latter. She ate her breakfast quietly trying to avoid eye contact with her parents, she was taking her bowl to the sink when her father stopped her.

His deep voice echoed in the quiet room, how she hated it. How she hated the way he spoke and dressed, his smile, his eyes all of it. She hated him ardently and was surprised when he addressed her.

'I hope you know we love you sweetheart, and I know I shouldn't really say this, but we know you'll fit in perfectly here' he says giving me a wink and a smile.

I look to my mother whose eyes are glimmering with unshed tears, she knows what I'll pick today. At least one of them does, I tell myself just another hour repeating the mantra in my head as I turn to him.

'thank you' I say in a quiet voice the only words I can bare to mutter. He gives me a cool glance before standing up and placing his dish in the sink. We have a stare off of sorts and I feel some kind of inner strength pushing me on and I glare back at him equally as cold and calculating.

My mother breaks the moment by ushering a quick 'come on let's go then' in that hopelessly cheery voice of hers. My father's attention is brought to my mother who tries to unsuccessfully cover her wince, my anger burns hot when I see my father's small smile. We leave the house quickly after that and I say my silent goodbyes to the only home I've ever know.

The room for the choosing ceremony is huge and the difference between the four factions has never been clearer, everyone files in and takes their seats and the chatter is hushed when the dauntless leader max stands at the front in front of the four bowls.

'hello everyone' max says loudly and clearly addressing the whole hall.

'today is a special day for most of you in here. Today is the day that you choose where you belong, it's where you decide your own fate; long ago our ancestors realised that it wasn't political ideology or religious beliefs that was to blame for a warring world. But it was rather human nature itself, they claimed that we were each flawed in our own right and these flaws were what caused war. Those who blamed aggression formed amity, those who blamed duplicity formed Candor, those who blamed ignorance became erudite, those who blamed selfishness became Abnegation, and those who blamed cowardice became dauntless. In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life' I block out the rest of his speech and patiently wait for my name to be called.

'Alexandria Giovanni'

I stand quickly and make my way to the front of the hall I feel eyes on me as I look at the bowls set out in front of me. I see water for erudite and dismiss it completely, I see glass for Candor and also dismiss that as the years have shown, I'm far too good at lying. I see rocks for abnegation and also dismiss that, I can't be selfless I can't be chaste I'm far too curious.

I'm stuck between amity and dauntless, I could have a peaceful life running around in the fields and laughing around a fire I could forget all my worries and all my hurt. With that I turn to dauntless; I don't want to forget, I don't want to chase leaves and forget. I want to be strong. I don't want to be hurt again. I let my blood run over the hot coals and smile. I've made my choice.

The cheers of the dauntless are overwhelming and I'm quickly ushered into a seat given up by a tall mixed race guy with a warm smile, I return his smile thankfully. Before turning to an erudite girl next to me, she went to my school but we didn't interact. We've never been friendly, but I smile at her anyway she looks how I imagine I do. Lost but hopeful.

The rest of the ceremony proceeds swiftly and before I know it we are running and climbing and running again trying to desperately catch he train we jump on exhausted and move to sit with our backs against the wall; only the train jolts and I'm unwittingly thrown into the lap of a guy in dauntless clothes he has brown hair and eyes and his jaw is nicely chiselled, his smile is inviting and friendly.

His friends snicker, while he gives me a warm smile as I squeak and desperately try to get up. When I'm finally on my feet with his assistance he says smiling.

'Hi I'm dean'

'Alex' I say sheepishly 'sorry about that' I say gesturing to the floor.

'No apologies necessary what guy doesn't want a pretty girl in their lap' he says easily.

One of his friends saunters up then telling dean to _stop flirting cause we have to get off soon._

'I'll see you around Alex' Dean says walking off with his friend.

The girl I smiled at from erudite approaches me then and I give her a grateful nod as she motions to the two spots by the window.

'so making friends already' she says gesturing to where dean and his friends had just left to.

'it was an accident' I say defensively 'I'm Alex' I say trying to reciprocate her friendly tone.

'sabby' she says smiling back at me, we chat for a few minutes and I can tell we are going to get along, from what I can tell she has a wicked sense of humour and a loving personality. I can tell we'll be friends.

We are distracted from our talk when someone shouts _you have to jump_ and people start leaping from the open train doors to a roof top a good five feet away, the train is whizzing past as more and more people make the jump.

Me and sabby look at each other, we have to jump. I go first taking a few steps back before running and lunging, for a few seconds everything is really clear and I feel free I feel light as a feather, I love this feeling. Unfortunately, I'm brought back down to reality when the cold gravel hits my shins and I fall gracelessly to the surface of the roof.

I turn behind me to see sabby a foot away in the same situation. I pick myself up ignoring the pain is easy it's a mere splinter in my experience; and make my way over to help sabby up. She gives me a grateful look and we head over to where dean and his friends are smiling happily joking with each other, and the other transfers and standing around looking unsure.

I smile at anyone who looks at me, but my smile dies when I see why everyone has gone quiet. A hulking man with rippling muscles stands on a ledge in front of us, his hair is shaved short enough that you can see his leadership tattoos that trail right into his scalp. He has a black ear stretcher in one ear and his eyebrow pierced twice.

His ice blue eyes shine scalding, as he glares at all of us, I try not to wince when his gaze meets mine, maintaining my smile and watching his scowl further deepen as he moves away.

'initiates, listen up!' his loud voice booms low and mysterious.

'my name is Eric and I am one of the leaders of your new faction' even the dauntless born are quiet now standing straight like soldiers.

'below us is the entrance to dauntless, you have to jump to gain entry. If you can't jump you don't belong here' his voice is abrupt and intimidating.

'our initiates have the privilege of going first' he says turning to them. One by one they jump from the ledge you can hear some wails on the way down or curse words but other than that there is silence as one by one they disappear.

When all of them are gone Eric turns to us 'transfers your turn' he says glaring at us all. A boy from Candor steps forward and with no preamble steps of the ledge, Eric looks dare I say it impressed?

An amity boy goes next and I give him a small smile when I see he seems nervous; he gives me a grateful look before jumping off. I step forward next and get on the ledge, turning to sabby I give her a reassuring smile before falling backwards into the darkness.

I laugh on the way down whooping with joy, I love this feeling of weightlessness as if nothing can hold me down. Again I'm snapped back into real life when I feel a net catch me, I'm quickly pulled out by a stern look guy with tattoos running from his neck and dipping below his shirt. His gaze is hard but not unkind and he studies me with amusement.

'name' he says gruffly.

'Alex' I smile

He makes the declaration to the crowd and I make my way over to the others, dean gives me a grin as I walk over and I return it. The boy from amity regards me curiously while the guy from Candor ignores us.

'I'm Mark' he says simply holding out his hand 'Alex' I return.

'you were fearless up there, we could hear you laughing the whole way down' he says impressed and amused.

'I liked it, it was fun' I say sheepishly earning a chuckle from Mark.

'you're crazy Alex' he says smiling at me.

We're interrupted by four declaring the next jumper as Sabby, she rushes over looking a bit green and gives me a hug I quickly introduce her to Mark and the three of us spend the time talking quietly, questioning what we think will happen next and where we are and they gush over the weirdness of me laughing. The jumpers quickly come to an end when Eric lands in the net.

'dauntless born initiates with Lauren, I assume you guys know your way around' the guy who pulled me out of the net says smirking slightly.

Dean and the other leave, but not before he gives me a wink and a soft _good luck._ I smile in thanks but blush at the same time when I realise that Eric and the other guy have been watching.

I redirect my attention to them 'transfers my name is Four, I work in the control room mostly but for now I'm your instructor' he says grimly.

'four as in the number four' the first guy to jump says cuttingly.

I see a grin form on Eric's face as four gives him a look of irritation, and I swear I catch a chuckled _every year_ come from him. Four steps close to the Candor boy invading his space and glaring at him 'is that a problem?' he asks menacingly.

The boy shakes his head, I stare on curiously, are Four and Eric friends? Weird Eric doesn't look like he has friends.

We get a tour of dauntless, we're shown the pit where apparently everyone goes to party or hang out and socialise we get a full tour before we get to a cave like room with steel bunks lining both walls and a communal bathroom with no doors or screens anywhere at the end.

'this is your room, and before you ask its boys' and girls' Four says giving a pointed look at Eric who just smirks. I glance around the lack of privacy won't be nice I think wryly; Eric catches my eye then as he smirks at what I'm sure is a look of disgust on my face.

Four quickly explains the system of how there are three stages and how we will be tested physically mentally and emotionally. Then he breaks the news that if we don't get ranked highly enough we will become factionless, I feel my spine stiffen at this. That's barbaric, I think at the same time I think I have to win. Becoming factionless isn't an option. People start to voice their disapproval and protest but Eric shuts them up with one sentence.

'you chose dauntless, now we have to choose you'

 **What do you guys think please read and review thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Please Read and Review**

I sit on my bed right next to the door with sabby on the bunk above me and mark next to us with a separate guy from Candor above him, who we learn in called Jeremy; he's a bit shy but seems like a decent guy.

Before we know it, we have changed into black dauntless clothes and Four is back to get us for dinner. We make our way into the dining hall and the first thing I see is Eric sitting there with what I assume are his friends surrounding him, the main ones he talks to are one with a ginger ponytail and a friendly smile; and the other had chestnut hair

Four had told us we have the rest of the night to do whatever we want, but tomorrow training would start at 7am sharp, and from the fearsome look he gave I could guess you didn't want to know what would happen if you were late.

Me and my new friends sit down, sabby next to me and mark and Jeremy across from us we look around at the food on the table. I see a variety of food meats, pasta's salads I see cake and cookies and every decadent food I can think of. I lick my lips unconsciously at the chocolate cake I can almost taste is, I automatically grab a slice and begin to eat it savouring it.

'erm Alex you know you're supposed to eat your main first right?' Jeremy says eating a chicken leg looking at me quizzically.

'I can eat in whatever order I want now' I say smiling around my cake and sticking a cakey tongue at him.

He continues eating laughing at me as I finish up my cake and spoon some pasta on my plate, I grab some juice as well and just generally chat and laugh with my friends. Mark is telling us this hilarious story about an incident with a barn an amity girl and an old farmer it was the most hilarious story resulting in a confused mark sand in the oddest place and a farmer attempting to wolf-proof his barn. I was laughing so hard that when a red faced Mark tried to throw a bread roll at me and I swerved to avoid it I feel backwards off my bench. Still laughing I look up into the glaring face of a dauntless leader.

'initiate' I hear a growling voice from above me, and look up to see the cold hard glare of Eric.

Still laughing I try and calm myself down and force out a shaky 'hi'

His glare deepens 'your laying on my feet' he says with a slight smirk. How can someone smirk and glare?

Just smiling now I pick myself up and stand up, just to have him storm passed me. His ginger haired friend pauses he gives me a confused look before following after Eric, looking bemused.

I return to my friends who are all looking shocked I sit down blushing a little bit, that wasn't embarrassing at all.

'what was that?' sabby asks shocked.

'me embarrassing myself in front of a dauntless leader' I murmur to myself sarcastically.

Dean and his friends who I have now learned are called Tyler and Conor, chose that moment to come and sit at our table Dean positioning himself next to me.

'I'm surprised you aren't running laps' Dean says grinning to me while eating some kind of fruit tart.

I stop my fork mid-way to my mouth ' why would I be running laps' I say curious.

'Eric is a total Ball buster' Tyler chirps up, and I notice that he has a cheeky smile.

'once I heard he made an initiate cry just with a glare' Conor chips in.

'you landed on his feet, you actually touched him and got away unscathed. I'm all kinds of impressed Ali' Dean says flirtingly.

'I'm sure he's secretly just a cuddly teddy bear' I say grinning back at him.

'you're probably the only one who would ever dream of calling Eric a teddy bear' Conor says with a laugh.

'maybe he's just misunderstood' I ponder quietly.

Conversation then drifts off and everyone starts wondering about what the first test will be and what our training will be like, I wonder how hard they will push us I'm scared to try and fail. But not trying here isn't an option unless I defiantly want to fail.

We all chat excitedly until a loud banging from ahead makes everyone fall silent, the leader max is standing up on a ledge with two dauntless guards behind him.

'initiates, we are glad you chose dauntless, to be in our faction means to be brave and to have concurred your fears, we hope you feel welcome here. Now enjoy a good night's rest before your first day of training tomorrow, the training will push you like you have never been pushed before; but believe me it will be worth it.' As his short speech comes to a close he bangs his cup on the table and the chant begins.

 _Dauntless Dauntless Dauntless_

We join in laughing and when we are picked up off our feet and handed around to dauntless members as we all surf the wave; I lay my head back.

 _It's good to be home_ I think to myself embracing the feeling.

It's all to short though as soon enough I'm grabbed and put down on the floor next to the surly leader Eric who stands at the edge of the room and now next to me, I stumble my feet unsteady for the now unfamiliar feeling of the ground.

Eric grabs my elbow steadying me 'thanks Eric' I say suddenly shy.

'Initiate' he says wondering off with a smirk.

…...

We wake the next morning to a loud piercing banging and I jump out of bed to see a smirking Four holding a saucepan and a spoon.

'initiates in the training room in 20 minutes' he shouts when he sees most of us are now bleary eyed but awake.

We stumble into our clothes and I take a moment to look at the fading bruises on my ribs, they seem to be healing nicely when I first got them I was worried about a possible fracture but now I'm pretty sure it was just bruised, I curse at the reminder of home they bring with them.

The thought makes me inwardly grimace, I wonder what my mum looks like right now. I shake my head and stop myself; there is no use dwelling on it _the best thing to do is to get strong so you can help her_ I tell myself as I finish putting my shoes on.

When we are ready me and the other initiates quickly run to the dining hall quickly grabbing rolls and juice as we run through, much to the amusement of the older dauntless who sit in their tables looking smug probably remembering their own initiation.

There are eleven of us in total in our class and our little group consists of about 6, Me sabby and Mark all sit on one bench with Jeremy and two new friends who we learn are from Candor called Jenny and Bonnie, we met last night and they seemed lovely.

We eat furiously glancing at the clock and grunting or nodding at each other, before we rush around to get rid of our trays and run to the training room, we make it a whole 2 minutes early and walk into a room that just had Four having a terse conversation with Eric, we are the last ones there and I sigh in relief that we aren't late.

As soon as we arrive the two trainers cut their conversation short and turn their attention to the group.

'initiates, now that you are all here let's get started, the first stage of initiation focuses on physical strength so this is where you will come every day to learn how to protect yourself and protect others like a member of dauntless' Four says seriously.

'Now today we are going to start off with a lap of the dauntless compound, try to keep up anyone who doesn't make it back won't be continuing with training' Eric says with a glare before taking off next to Four who begin to show us the route round the compound.

The trail is hard it's a flat surface but its long and some of it is uphill, Eric and Four seem to manage it effortlessly but the rest of us struggle to keep up. It feels never ending and I find myself in the middle of the pack sabby is a little behind me but Jeremy is keeping up with me well and mark is in front of us.

By the time we get back a solid hour and a half has passed and we are drenched in sweat and panting when we finally get back to the training room we collapse on the floor, oblivious to the amused looks we are getting from the dauntless initiates who are wrapping up training when we come in.

Suddenly a shadow is over my wrecked body and a very masculine arm is offered to me, I look into the amused eyes of Dean.

'need a hand' he says with an irritating smile.

He pulls me up and I stumble a little into him, he steadies me but keeps me close giving me a flirty smile.

'thanks' I mutter embarrassed.

'anytime' he says smirking, but all his smirk does is make me think of another smirk. One that is much more defined and cutting; _oh gosh_ I think to myself _I'm comparing dean to Eric!_

'you guys seem like you're handling training well' I say still slightly out of breath.

Dean give a chuckle 'nahh were just more prepared is all, fitness is an important part of life at dauntless and so let's just say that PE was intense for us growing up' he says smiling.

'Not so much at Erudite' I say with a frown, even mentioning the name of that faction makes me tense.

'initiates' Four's voice booms and we all scramble to gather around him.

'We are moving onto practicing the physical moves to training next, I want you to all watch me demonstrate the moves you will be expected to learn on the bag. Then I want you to find your own bag and practice, me and Eric will be coming round and assisting when necessary' Four states in a bored voice.

We watch him demonstrate and I have to admit I'm impressed; I wonder if we'll look like that when we finish training. Before I realise it we are practising on our own bags and it's much harder than it looks the bag is heavy and you have to put a lot of weight into your throws to get it to move.

My bag is only swinging timidly and I feel frustration well up inside me, _come on Alex_ I say to myself, I take a deep breath and re-live Four's demonstration sometimes having a photographic memory pays off; I realise the mistake in my position and bend my knee's more throwing my shoulders back slightly before I swing. The bag moves a lot more this time and I feel reassured.

I keep practising and I think I have most of the moves down, my memory playing a huge part in helping me ace them. The only move I can't seem to grasp is this one leg kick Four did, it was right near the end and he only did it once; I think it was an accident because he didn't narrate it or repeat it, but still I want to get it down.

Four stops us for lunch and I stop frustrated, I just can't get it right and now my thigh muscles are killing me. Maybe a rest is just what I need and as my stomach gurgles I realise I'm starving.

We head down to lunch and I try and relax and talk to my friends, we talk about how there is a party tomorrow for all the initiates and I'm just enjoying listening to the conversation when I hear Jeremy drop in.

'and did you see Eric stare at Alex like the whole time?' I cough choking on my drink.

'what?!' I splutter

'he was totally looking at you like the whole time Alex, even when he helped me adjust my stance his eyes were on you most of the time' Mark says around a mouthful of chicken wing casually like he's talking about the weather or something.

No one else seems shocked either they just continue to eat their food all except sabby, who stares at me smirking straight in the eyes. I try and ignore the colour leaking into my cheeks and stare back at her challengingly, she cocks an eyebrow.

'I'm going to get going guys, I want to practice a bit more before this afternoon I'll see you guys in there' I say quickly shovelling down the rest of my food and getting rid of my plate waving a quick goodbye I head to the training room. Oblivious to the eyes following out of the room curiously.

I head in and get warmed up running through the moves that I thought I had a good grasp on and before long I've reached the end of the set and I'm back to the leg kick I can't get. I feel my frustration build and eventually I kick the bad widly in frustration.

I hear a snort from behind me and turn around to find no one other than Eric leaning against the wall behind me watching me.

'what's funny' I ask scathingly glaring in his direction.

'you getting mad' he says simply an amused look to his face and he leans off the wall and comes towards me.

'do it again' he commands standing next to me now.

'what the leg thing' I say.

He nods shortly and I re-do the move or at least my version of it, as my foot is about to land at the bag he grabs it and I shuffle to keep myself from falling over.

'you need to get the leg higher that's why it's not working' he says critically. That's something I've began to realise with Eric, he only speaks when there is something important to say; I'd never have to worry about unnecessary chatter with him.

I stop suddenly, _why am I thinking about Me and Eric? Pure craziness_. I shake my head to dislodge the thoughts before doing the manoeuvre again raising my leg higher, it's still not quite right because I can't imagine in my head how it should look.

I look at Eric curiously; I wonder if he would show me. He looks back at me suspiciously raising his pierced eyebrow and narrowing his eyes.

'what' he all but growls.

'show me' I demand challengingly.

'it's not something you need to know at this stage anyway' Eric grunts and its then I realise it's something that Four wasn't meant to show us for sure.

'do you not know, because I didn't mean to offend you or anything I just can do things better when I've seen them be done. I assumed because you were a leader you would know how but it doesn't matter' I splutter embarrassed, how awkward if he didn't know how to _I suppose I could ask Four when he came back in._

Almost as if he can hear my thoughts he gives me an indignant look before striding over to the bag next to me, and delivering the cool kick thing perfectly; before looking back at me as if to say you were saying?

'if I don't need to know it how comes you and Four can both do it' I say questioningly going back to practising the kick, I think I'm getting the hang of it now. The visual of Eric doing it helps immensely.

'it's something you learn if you do additional martial arts training after initiation, some people choose to continue on for fun and all trainee leaders have to complete all of the extra training.' He grumbles almost reluctantly, correcting my stance when necessary.

'so you did it to become a leader' I say curious wondering how long talkative Eric is here for. His helpful hands are making me feel nervous almost like a fluttering in my tummy.

'I would have done it even if it wasn't required' he answers mysteriously.

I'm about to ask why but the look in his eyes shuts me up, we all have our secrets. If he doesn't want to share I'm sure as hell not going to make him, the things that make a man like Eric scared would probably have me peeing my pants, so maybe for once I'm better off not knowing.

I start to go through my moves again from the beginning and Eric helps but holding the bag for me or kicking my feet apart or yanking my shoulder so that I stand more correctly.

At first this is a bit alarming but I find his improvements have pleasing results and I catalogue them so that I don't fall into bad habits; it's only when he grabs my ribs do I let out a hiss of displeasure which makes him quickly remove his hand.

'what?' he asks quickly; he knows I didn't have a problem with his manhandling everywhere else so his question is valid; my erudite brain snaps.

'it's nothing' I say dismissively 'what were you going to change' I say begging him not to ask anymore.

He must see the silent plea in my eyes because he drops it and motions to my upper torso.

'twist your body just a little to the right, when you do that move it makes it more fluid' he says looking troubled now, his eyes glued to my ribs.

I do this and focus hard on not letting out any signs of displeasure when my side protests; it hadn't mattered earlier when the training room was full because the sounds of other breathing or hitting the bag drowned out any sounds I made.

And if I did make any noise people would just assume that I had hit the shot wrong, or connected at an odd angle causing pain. But now that I had slipped up with Eric I would have to guard my responses more closely, people here could not know I had a weakness.

We continue to have a weird little stare off and I could swear Eric knows I'm hiding something, but then the door to the training room busts open and Four saunters in; stopping dead when he see's me.

'Alex what are you doing here' he asks confused.

I take a step back from my close proximity with Eric and motion to the bag.

'I was just getting some extra practice in' I say shrugging my shoulders.

'with Eric alone' he asks suspicious now.

'I was just helping' Eric says mock innocently with a sneer directed at Four.

Four glowers but before he can say anything more the rest of my class start coming through the doors and I walk away to join my friends.

'hey guys' I say chirpily.

'you ran out on us' Mark accuses with a pout which sabby joins in with, hers is a little less sincere and a little more smug though.

'Me, Never!' I say in mock outrage giving them both a quick hug to say sorry, Mark hugs me back tightly and I wince but I don't think he notices.

When I pull back I smile and he smiles back and I look at sabby who is also smiling but looks a little confused; I have a feeling she felt my wince and I scold myself again.

'how was the rest of lunch then guys' I say cheerfully as we turn around to walk.

'Well Eric left mere seconds after you, you wouldn't know anything about that would you' Sabby shoots me a smug smile and questioning glance which I ignore with a mock glare.

As the fill me in on the rest of lunch I catch Eric shoot me a glare, and I'm pretty sure that he saw my wince. _This will be fun_ I think as we join the rest of the initiates for the afternoon training session.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter please review and let me know what you think** **J**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **As always enjoy** **J**

The rest of the training session proceeds rather uneventfully, we continue to practise on the bags and get partnered up for some hands on training. My partner is the arrogant Candor guy the first jumper who I learn is named Ryder.

He's a nice enough guy, but he's cool and calculating like he doesn't feel emotion which makes him kind of boring. You can't have a laugh or joke with him, but he's a good training partner.

He picks up on your mistakes and helps you correct them, and doesn't get offended at constructive criticism. We work hard and intensely but it pays off when I finally get a smile out of him at the end of the session.

'you're alright Alex' he says with a smile.

'Thanks Ry, I'll take that as a glowing compliment from you' I laugh as he only looks further bemused.

I notice that I get glares from the other small group of initiates at his responding chuckle though, especially the girls I shake my head at that though that's just too confusing to consider right now.

I grab my jacket I had discarded and my empty water bottle before moving to leave with the other initiates, we stumble back into the dining room for dinner and frankly I'm just glad to sit down.

I flop onto the bench with the others 'I reek guys' I say smelling myself and it's true the long day of sweating has taken its toll I'm using the boy's deodorant tomorrow it seems to have held out okay; I think sniffing Jeremy.

He laughs at me grabbing my head and trying to force it near his sweaty armpit.

'Still think I smell nice now Alex' he taunts laughing while I squeal.

'Jer stop' I shriek finally pushing him away from me slapping his arm and glaring at him.

'you're fault for smelling me' he says as he begins to devour his food with a grin, I reluctantly grin back and look at Mark who's smirking at Jer and trying to discreetly bump his fist.

I smile at them, they are like the brothers I've never had; the thought fills me with joy, we can look out for each other.

'so sabby what do you think of Dean's friend Conor' I say with a vivacious wink.

She turns bright red and glares at me, oh yea I had totally read that right. They very much liked each other they had been sneaking glances when the other wasn't looking.

I give her a smug smile thinking back to her behaviour about Eric earlier, however this time the boys around us don't seem to be quite so oblivious.

'that guy' Mark whines looking to Jer for approval.

'I agree that guy totally looks like a douche' Jer pipes up angrily, and I can't control my smile defiantly protective like brothers.

'he seems sweet' I say smiling at a now furiously blushing Sabby.

'What about Eric, does he seem sweet too' Sabby says in a desperate attempt to redirect the conversation, I silence her with a glare.

'why would Eric be sweet' Jer says confused.

'Oh no way Alex!' Mark exclaims loudly, drawing the attention of several people sitting around us.

'shhhhhhh' I say quickly glancing around to make sure he's not in hearing vicinity.

'you can't be serious' Jer says catching on glaring at the leaders table behind me.

'He's totally abusing his position of power' Mark says disgustedly.

'He hasn't abused anything guys, I'm just his initiate' I say calmly looking at sabby who looks far to happy with the situation.

'Stop glaring at him Jer' I hiss at him quietly.

'or what' Mark says tauntingly joining in with the glaring.

'Eric is dangerous' Jer says hardening his glare as if that makes it all okay.

I turn around to see Eric glaring tauntingly right back at them, this needs to stop now!

'Guys he doesn't want me and I don't want him either, nothing is happening. But I swear if you guys don't stop glaring at him right now I'm going to jab a fork in your eyes' I say menacingly.

They look thoroughly chastised at that and drop their glare 'we just want to look out for you Alex' Mark says imploringly.

'I can look after myself guys, and as much as I love you for trying, someone has to look out for you too. The sad reality is I don't want to visit you guys in hospital if you tried to go up against Eric' I say grinning at them sarcastically.

With their ego's firmly chastised they take a moment to whisper to each other before turning back to me and Sabby.

'we've decided to let you make your own choice this time' Mark says looking at Jer who nods his head in agreement.

'well gee guy's thanks for that' I mutter sarcastically.

They continue ignoring me 'but we want you to know that if he hurts you we are pretty sure we could get some guys together and get rid of him' Jer says looking all too pleased with himself.

I can't help it then, their innocent grins get to me and I burst out laughing; sabby quickly joins in and soon we are all laughing over their stupidity.

We slowly make our way back to our rooms after that and Mark and Jeremy offer to take guard so that me and Sabby can have first showers, they stand like bouncers around the wall to the showers and it's nice to be able to shower safely.

Once we've had our turn me and sabby quickly get our pyjamas on before 'standing guard' for the boys. In reality we sit down against the wall they stood in front of a minute ago.

They take much less time than we do and soon we are all tucked up in bed, talking softly and sleepily to each other about our likes and dislikes. The other initiates trickle in slowly and shower and get in bed as well Ryder gives me a nod on his way out of the bathroom and I smile back.

It's not long before our little group has fallen asleep after the exhausting day we've had; it seems only fair.

However, the next time I wake up its not because Four is waking us up, it's because I'm rudely pulled out of my nightmare by a noise. I've always been a light sleeper and tonight I'm thankful for it, it saved me from reliving a nightmare.

I take stock of the room around me, and notice that Ryder's bed is empty and so is one of the other girls. Emily I think it was, I check the clock on the wall and notice that we have a good hour before we have to get to training, and there is no way I'm getting to sleep now.

I get up and dressed quietly and quickly, before moving to investigate the noise. What I find makes me blush to the tips of my toes and stammer my apologies to a still moving Ryder.

Him and Emily are in the bathroom naked and doing something I defiantly didn't want to see against the wall, I quickly backtrack to the little wall outside the bathroom.

'Erm not to interrupt or anything Ryder, but could you tell my friends that I'll be in the training room I'm going for an early breakfast' I call out in a whisper.

I hear an amused chuckle from Ryder and what sounds like a muffled scream before he whispers his assent; I murmur a quick thanks before quickly leaving the room and making my way down to breakfast.

I can't see anyone around but food is out on the counter at the end of the hall, instead of just grabbing some I call out to see if the person who made it is around.

I hear some banging from the room leading off from the room behind the counter, before a small woman appears. She looks older than most of the dauntless members, but she has a soft comforting smile that immediately makes me smile back.

'are you alright dear' she asks concerned.

'oh I'm fine I just wanted to know who to thank for the food. I'm Alex' I say smiling at her.

'No thank you necessary dear, I love to cook it's what I do I'm Martha' she says shrugging it off like it's nothing.

'Do you cook for everyone in dauntless' I ask genuinely curious, taking a bite of blueberry muffin.

'Well some people cook for themselves in their apartments, or their flats but I cook for the whole main compounds dining room' she says self-consciously.

'your very gifted your food is amazing' I say shocked, for one person to cook for this many people is impressive. To make that food tasty is downright astounding.

'oh well I get by' she says flustered and blushing.

'well if you ever need any help just give me a shout, I used to love to bake sweet things' I say while finishing my muffin and picking up a sandwich.

'Really' she asks shocked I nod grinning around my bacon sandwich applying ketchup.

'well I don't need help for the food for meals, but I'd love to have your company if you ever feel like baking. My kitchen is always open to you sweet Alex' she says giving me a sweet smile and a wink before disappearing into the back again.

I take that as my cue to leave and grabbing a bottle of water and a bottle of juice, I begin to make my way to the training room.

When I get there the room is unsurprisingly empty and I dump my jacket and water bottle on the floor, holding onto my juice and making my way to the door leading outside at the other end of the hall.

I head outside and the sun is just breaking over the horizon, it's a beautiful sight and I sit on the dewy grass watching it while I finish off my juice. It's peaceful and humbling, it reminds me that there is a world outside dauntless and training; and if I hang on I'll get there.

I force myself to leave when my juice is finished picking myself up of the damp grass and going inside, when I open the door however what I don't expect to see is Eric walking in.

'what are you doing here' I blurt out drawing his attention to me.

'I always get here early initiate' he says glaring.

 _Ahh back to moody Eric today_ I think to myself. Great.

'what are you doing here' Eric asks suspiciously.

'er I couldn't sleep' I mutter going red thinking about exactly how I was woken up.

Eric looks far too amused by my now tomato colour face though and I really don't want to have that conversation; I don't think it's against the rules but I wouldn't want to get Ryder in trouble anyway.

So in an effort to distract him I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

'No one was having sex' I say quickly and then become mortified as Eric looks even more bemused. My face is radiating heat by now.

'That's good to know' Eric says smirking at me.

'what do you normally come here early for' I say thankful I'm able to come up with a more appropriate distraction topic now.

Eric regards me warily for a moment before saying 'I need to warm up before training, so I normally come in early' his voice is soft, softer than I ever though Eric capable of.

'Do you want to warm up with me Alex' Eric says in that same soothing sensual tone.

I'm snapped out of my peace by that though and I shoot him a glare 'I think I'm all warm thanks Eric' I reply sweetly.

He laughs and I'm surprised, it's a rich throaty laugh something supremely masculine and something that could only ever be associated with Eric.

When he stops he looks at me smirking and says 'I'm serious we both need to warm up, and we're only doing more sparring today anyway' he shrugs looking bored.

'you want me to spar with you!' I say outraged 'I'll die!'

He gives me a mocking look 'Really? You think I'd kill you'

'Maybe not intentionally' I mutter checking out his arms.

He grins lazily following my gaze, making my heart jump in its chest. Eric grinning is like Eric laughing, it's a beautiful thing it takes the hardness away from his gaze and gives him a boyish youth.

'I promise I won't kill you, I couldn't deal with the hassle Four would make anyway' he says mockingly walking towards the mat.

I follow him glaring and when we get there he starts stretching, I follow suit and then before I know it. It's time to spar.

I'm nervous and I think he can tell as the first few shots he makes are slow and lazy, and not at all like Eric. I snap out of it after that I don't want him thinking he has to take it easy on my just because I'm an initiate.

We Spar for what feels like hours and while I feel like I've produce enough sweat to fill a pool, Eric looks cool calm and collected. My muscles are aching and he doesn't even look like he's trying; I lose my balance and a hit that was supposed to get my shoulder gets my ribs.

I can't help it my body feel's bruised and I know Eric is holding back his strength, I wince and hiss cradling my side. I sit down vowing to never fight Eric properly, if the hit he just delivered was delivered with full strength; I'm fairly sure he would have broken at least one Rib.

I look up at Eric who is glowering down at me 'I'm fine' I say trying to appear convincing.

'it must have been an awkward angle' I lie 'I just need a minute.'

'I think your lying to me' Eric says sitting beside me 'and I want to know why. I've never seen you acknowledge pain so far, except when that side is hit; and even then it's only when you think no one is watching' he looks displeased.

'Eric I can't' I say hoping he'll understand.

'I won't tell anyone Alex' He says sincerely beseechingly and for some reason that convinces me, I let him lift my top slightly to see the black and blue that litters my ribs.

He hisses in an angry breath that makes me pull my top down again quickly to cover it, I stand up and ignore the pain waiting for him to say something.

He paces angrily in front of me 'How did this happen Alex?!' he all but shouts at me.

'That's not important' I say glaring at him 'just forget it Eric'

'Forget it?!' he cries indignant 'Your ribs are all but broken and you won't me to ignore it' he says stopping in front of me angry.

'You have no choice' I say equally as mad jabbing my finger in his chest to underline each word.

'your opponents will use this against you Alex' he says growling.

'Not if they don't know about it so keep your mouth shut!' I shriek.

'Tell me who did it Alex' he says his voice getting low and cold, deadly serious.

I'm saved from telling him to go screw himself when the training room door opens and Ryder walks in accompanied by Four.

Four takes one look at my sweat streaked clothes and the matt out on the floor, before shooting Eric an amused look. Eric ignore it and stomps out of the room the door echoing behind him.

'Did you guys spar' he says far to amused for my liking.

'Yea so what' I say defensive, still riled up from my argument with Eric.

'I'm just surprised you're still standing is all' He says looking confused, he shakes his head before starting to get the other equipment out.

It's just me and Ryder then, and I can't look him in the eye. He gives a short laugh noticing my discomfort.

'hey Ryder' I say sheepishly.

'Hey Alex' he says amused.

'Look let's just get this out there, I didn't mean to walk in on you this morning and I'm really sorry and I didn't see anything AT ALL!' I say closing my eyes and screeching the ending.

To my surprise he just lifts my head a gives me a coolly amused smile.

'you really are an innocent' he laughs 'don't worry Alex, you didn't interrupt anything' he gives me a wink before leaving to start warming up on the bags.

I stand there all kinds of confused, before finally gathering my scattered wits and making my way back over to the bags to continue practicing.

It's not long before the rest of the class join us and Four is declaring that today we will be learning how to throw knives this morning before moving on to more intense sparring this afternoon.

We all line up and begin to throw and I find that fighting comes much more naturally to me then throwing these, I don't like the weight it feels to light almost. We keep practising and I'm making more progress; I'm impressed when I finally manage to hit the bullseye and I smile at Jeremy hugely.

He has a natural affinity for knives it seems and nails almost all of his shots, it's seemingly effortless for him and so he had already switched hands by the time I finally get a bullseye.

Sabby is faring a little worse and most of her knives are sticking around the sides of the board, but at least they are sticking some of the others have trouble throwing the knives hard enough and they bounce off.

Mark and Ryder are doing well probably just a little better than me, they seem to be evenly matched, and I smile maybe they could spar together it'd probably help them I muse.

What like you and Eric my subconscious pipes up. I think about it then; Eric's skill level far outmatches my own he could have easily dropped me multiple times earlier in his warm up it wouldn't have made much difference to him.

However, he didn't instead he challenged me, trying to make me better I smile inwardly. He was trying to help me.

Before I know it we have gone for lunch, we all make our way to the dining hall and I can't help but feel bad for Ryder; there is only one other guy in the group he hangs around with and he is constantly with what looks like his girlfriend.

I see him shaking his head disgustedly at some of the girls and decide to invite him to sit with us, I get an affronted look before he warily agrees.

I lead him over to my friends and they look curious but not unfriendly.

'Guys this is Ryder, Ryder this is Mark, Sabby and Jeremy' I say pointing at each individual person as I say their name.

The guys all nod at each other respectably before we launch into conversation, unsurprisingly Ryder fits in well with all of us and even joins in the conversation on occasion. I catch him shooting me a smile every once in a while.

Everyone relaxes the more we talk and I learn that although Ryder doesn't understand some of the stories, he fits in with us and I'm glad.

We are all laughing and talking as we head back into the training room and I dread what's going to happen now; my side has been worse ever since Eric's hit this morning and I dread getting more hit's on it.

We all get partnered up and again I go with Ryder while everyone else partners up, we practise the moves from yesterday except we are told to do them in real time today; they have to flow like a real fight.

Me and Ryder we're rather evenly paired but after my session with Eric this morning it's clear I have the upper hand. It's like he's moving in slow motion and I can predict what's going to happen before it does.

I can feel Ryder getting frustrated and I drop me guard a little bit letting him catch my shoulder, he looks a little relieved and I glare at him pretending to be mad.

We continue like this for a little while and every once in a while I drop my guard and let him catch my shin or elbow or shoulder; harmless places as to not damage my side.

Ryder is stepping up his game though and I feel myself weakening, if he keeps this up I'll tire out to much to protect myself.

We are stopped from out fight however when we hear a loud cry from behind us, Sabby has dropped the Erudite girl she was fighting and she'd fallen at an awkward angle cradling her wrist that's twisted at an awkward angle.

Four calls us to a stop before examining the girl's wrist, he's still crouched down inspecting it when Eric walks in. He shoots me a glare before making his way over to Four and the girl.

He takes a quick look at the area before having a quick whispered discussion with Four, Four nods and leaves the room escorting the girl to the medical bay.

'Get back to it' Eric says glowering at us all.

I look at sabby who no longer has a partner and then back to Eric, what's the plan there I look at Ryder who shrugs.

'what's the problem initiate' Eric shouts at me as I hesitate to continue.

'Sabby doesn't have a partner' I glower back, there is no need for rudeness.

'Well since you so kindly pointed it out, you can come and be my partner and she can have yours' he says icily shrugging his leader jacket off and stepping onto a mat.

Ryder shoots me an apologetic look but sabby just grins at me, as I walk over to the mat to join Eric.

Training with him is brutal but I can tell it's going to help me and so I grit my teeth and carry on, I see my fellow initiates send me envious glances but I ignore them.

I have to fully concentrate or Eric will flatten me, with Ryder earlier my erudite mind was helpful and I could predict his moves. But Eric is always one step ahead of me like he can just as easily predict my moves as I could Ryders.

The only problem is I can't predict his because every time I do he changes what he's going to do like he knows that I know. It's a battle of mind's as well as strength and I find Eric' is again far superior to me in this.

Eric isn't even breaking a sweat physically but I have gotten a forehead crease out of him, which I'm assuming means that mentally I am taxing him. I grin at the thought and it seems to confuse Eric who is off balance suddenly.

I try a sneak attack but he's back on his game now and glaring at me like it's my fault I distracted him. We continue on and on, and at some point Four comes back into the room he shoots me a confused look and Eric a warning look before circling the room.

The whole time I notice that Eric is being very careful of my side even to the degree that when I move to dodge a punch and he would have connected with my side, but instead he completely drops his arm.

It dawns on me then that he did this on purpose, which although unexpectedly sweet of Eric, still singles me out to the other initiates.

I glare at him, I don't want any special attention and I can't afford for one of the others to notice that he's favouring one side over the other.

He ignores my glare and carries on, we are lost in a sea of fast and furious punches and also instruction. When Eric pulls a move we haven't be taught I stop him and make him teach it to me.

He looks irritated outwardly but inwardly I can tell he's impressed, and the smirk in his eyes lets me know that he doesn't really mind.

We get lost in each other and when Four call's time we are both shocked, I can tell this irritates Eric though who glares and grabs his jacket off the floor.

I go to grab mine to and my water, I notice he didn't bring any water though and must have not imagined that he'd be doing anything physical. I down half of mine before going over to him and offering him the other half.

He looks surprised but takes the bottle glaringly; I walk back over to my friends watching him down the rest of the water before chucking it.

'Hey guys' I pant.

'What's up fierce Alex' Mark says giving me a grin and a high five, I look at him and give him a pout.

'Come on guys, I'm just lucky I survived. That'll teach me to mouth off' I say trying to laugh and wincing when my whole body hurts.

'oh is someone a bit sore' Jeremy says giving me a mischievous look.

'Yea Eric really worked you over' Sabby interrupts grinning with her new found co-conspirators.

'It was just sparing guys' I say blushing at the innuendo.

'We sparred and it was nothing like that' Ryder says giving me a wink; I stick my tongue out at them all as they laugh and we start walking out towards dinner.

We are just leaving the door the group splitting into single file to get through the door, the party is tonight before the first ranking tomorrow; and I'm excited it'll be a nice way to blow off steam before tomorrow.

 **Longest chapter Ever Guys i hope you liked it, please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **This is writing itself guys! I can't seem to stop. Enjoy** **J**

We all clamber down the hallways, excited to get ready and go and enjoy ourselves as proper dauntless members. The girls shower first and this time some of the erudite girls are there, some are looking at us with obvious distain while a few just look uncaring.

I think about what I witnessed In the showers earlier with Ryder and Emily and try hard not to blush, _it's a good job showers are kind of self-cleaning_ , I think wryly.

We try and get showered as quickly as possible but let out a collective sigh when the hot water hit us, my shoulders relax and I take a moment to revel in it.

We quickly exit the bathroom after that and let the boys go in, we are get dressed and ready and I see a few of the erudite get some make up out _; I really need to go shopping_ I think looking at myself and my clean shirt and leggings.

We get clean laundry every day, we get workout sweats and wat I'm assuming are supposed to be casual clothes; the casual clothes are what I'm wearing now. I look at sabby and I can tell she's thinking the same thing we smile at each other _tomorrow?_

She nods once and then asks if she can French braid my hair, I quickly agree and we sit on her bed so she can sort it out.

By the time she's finished I have one long French braid running down my back, and when I check it out in the mirror I can't help but love it. It's practical and it makes me looks more girly, by the time we are finished admiring my hair the boys are all getting ready on the other side of the room.

Before I know it we are all headed down to the pit and our new found excitement comes from not knowing exactly what Is going to happen tonight, I can't help but grin at the possibilities.

We have a loud dinner and I get a few more teasing innuendos from my friends, about my earlier training session but they end when I glare at them all.

Ryder does compliment my hair though, and I can't help but narrow my eyes at him which just makes his half smile blow out into a full blown grin, I play slap him still eating my food.

We all head into the main part of the Pit next where fully fledged dauntless members are sitting around in groups drinking and laughing, being loud and boisterous and everything I've come to learn dauntless is.

I see Eric sitting with a few of his friends and other leaders, ginger hair is there and they are all swigging what looks like either whiskey or bourbon.

It makes me smile, these guys can be at home here and I'm pretty sure that I'll like it here to. We find a nice little corner in the Bar and the drinking begins.

I've had the occasional wine in Erudite at a posh dinner party or a wedding, but have never drunk freely to this extent and so I decide to try a cocktail, I get a Strawberry Mojito and it's one of the sweetest thing's I've ever drunk.

I decide it's perfect, it's got the bitter tang of mint with the sweet strawberries and just an undercurrent of what I'm sure is some form of spirit. I'm on my third and feeling a slight buzz when the drinking games start.

'How about Never Have I Ever' Ryder suggests and then quickly explains the rules to us, being from Candor this game was a favourite in his home faction.

We all agree warily and so Ryder decides to start us of.

'Never have I Ever fought a dauntless leader' he says smirking at me, as I'm the only one to take a drink.

We proceed round in a circle and so far I've only had to take a drink once and that was because of Ryder, soon enough it's my turn and I think hard about it before shooting a wicked grin at Ryder and saying.

'Never have I ever had sex with another initiate' oh yea payback is a bitch I smile.

Ryder grins and downs the rest of his drink, what's surprising is sabby taking a small drink trying to be inconspicuous.

'Sabby!' I squeal loudly.

While Mark and Jeremy were bumping fists with Ryder before and congratulating him on being a little man slut; they now whip around and glare at the two of us.

'What?!' they both growl.

'What?' Sabby says slurring confused, and I realise she may have had more to drink then we realise; I look at the others who all look okay and decide it's probably better if I take sabby home and put her to bed; before she reveals something else she'll regret tomorrow.

'Guy's we can talk about this tomorrow, me and Sabby are going back to the dorm' I say getting up wobbly and helping Sabby to her feet; shooting a glare at the guys telling them to leave it alone.

For once they agree and wish us goodnight as I sling Sabby's arm around my neck and start the trek back to the room.

We make our way out of the pub and Sabby Is half sleeping half walking against me now, I'm dragging her along when someone block my path. I look up to see Eric's ginger friend standing in front of me a smirk of his face.

He looks a lot more carefree than Eric, like he smiles a lot. His frame is huge up close and I dimly wonder if they work out together; then I refocus on the smirk.

 _Is that like an Eric thing_ my slightly intoxicated mind _thinks I wonder if it's contagious, God will I catch it if I keep hanging around Eric?_

It's only when the ginger guy lets out a laugh do I realise that I said that out loud and I blush.

'Let's not mention that to Eric' I say hopefully, knowing I couldn't take that embarrassment.

'Gotcha' he says still smiling 'I'm Paul'

'Alex, and I need to be getting my friend home she gets heavier the longer I hold her up' I say grinning as sabby slurs a _bitch_ with her eyes still closed.

'Here let me help I'll see you two back to the dorms' he says moving to take Sabby.

I hold her tighter 'how do I know I can trust you' I ask warily.

He laughs loudly at that throwing his head back.

'You don't, but what other option have you got' he says with a shrug and a smile.

Reluctantly I glare at him but hand sabby over, he lifts her effortlessly bridal style and we start the walk back to the dorms.

'So why are you helping me?' I say my curiosity getting the better of me.

'I wanted to see what has Eric so captivated' he says carelessly.

'Eric isn't captivated with me' I say indignantly.

'Are you sure about that? Cause from what I've been hearing from Four you two are hard to watch, all that unresolved sexual tension' he says mischeviously.

'There is no unresolved sexual tension, we have good chemistry when we fight that's it' I say huffing out a breath, I can't believe Four has been gossiping.

Paul lets out a chuckle at that 'suppose you could call it that'

'Your reading way too much into this, he's my trainer I'm his initiate, he just wants me to pass initiation' I say swaying on my feet.

Paul switched sabby to over his shoulder and grabs me around my waist steadying me.

'thanks' I say happy for the dizziness to have stopped.

He ignores this and carry's on 'Don't you see that's the point, Eric never helps anyone to do well. He doesn't believe in special treatment, you work for what you get and if you pass you do it with the same instruction as everyone else' he says beseechingly.

'I don't get any special treatment and I will pass with the same instruction as everyone else' I say getting mad now.

'All I'm saying is normally when Eric spars with someone like you, the end up in the hospital and instead you're fine' he says trying to calm me down.

'Maybe I'm just an exceptional fighter' my drunk mind protests.

Paul laugh at that 'No initiate is that exceptional' he says cocking an eyebrow.

'Maybe you have Eric pegged wrong then' I say pouting crossing my arms.

'What do you mean by that' he says amused his eyebrows nearly reaching his hairline.

'He's not a bad guy, he doesn't want to hurt people. You're labelling him as this monster when in reality all he does is help people there is this huge stigma that Eric is a big ball buster, when in fact Four has been meaner than Eric has been! He's a good trainer and I'm betting a good leader to and maybe if he had nicer friends people wouldn't think he was such a giant douche' I say ending my little rant angrily.

My drunk self is pleased but inside my mind I can hear the sober part of me crying out in horror at what I've just done; I turn warily to look at Paul's reaction but instead of the anger I'm expecting all I get is his incredulous look and I look back confused.

He gives me a huge smile though and just shakes his head at me before continuing on with our walk we are at the dorms now and, I'm about to ask about his peculiar reaction when the man himself comes around the opposite corner.

He takes in the position of sabby slung over Paul's shoulder and his arm tight around my waist before glaring at Paul.

'What's going on?' he says suspiciously still glaring at Paul.

'Nothing' his friend smiles back at him.

Eric narrows his eyes further when I wobble a bit 'Alex' he demands.

'Nothing's happening Eric, the lovely Paul here was just escorting me and Sabby back to our room' I say dismissively 'What are you doing' I fire back.

Paul laughs when Eric just narrows his eyes at us.

'Relax Eric, I was just going to help Alex drop her friend off then I was going to get her some water and leave' Paul says and I'm sure if he could he would be holding up his hands.

'Why would you get me water, I'm not thirsty and besides I prefer juice to water if I get to pick, I mean of course you need water to train but you need juice the other times because water gets boring' I say drunkenly marvelling at my own brilliance.

Speaking of which 'You!' I point accusingly at Eric who seems to be having some sort of mental conversation with a smiling again Paul.

'You should always have water with you! Because even if you think you don't need it what if there are bad guys around the corner' I say waving my arms wildly against a now struggling Paul.

'what If you have to get them but you can't because you're to thirsty! And I won't be there and then you'll die' I say shocking myself with my last bit my faux anger draining away.

'So your saying if your there he won't die' Paul says grinning at Eric who narrows his eyes at him.

'Well no because he won't be thirsty if I'm there' I say getting confused and looking to Eric for confirmation.

He looks amused when I turn my gaze to him, but nods seriously to my unasked question. I look back at Paul triumphant. _Ha take that!_ Stupid Paul.

Sabby chooses this moment to stir and I realise that we are all standing outside of our room when I could just easily pop her in bed. I reach for her but Paul bats my hands away. I glare.

'Give me her Paul' I say glaring and tapping my foot holding my arms out expectantly.

He snorts amused before walking past me and into our room.

'which one is hers' he asks looking at the cots.

I point and he drops her on top of it before removing her shoes and tucking her under her covers, it's such a sweet gesture and completely out of place for such a bulking man. I look on confused before plopping onto my bed next to her.

'Later Alex' Paul says and Eric doesn't say anything but I assume when the door clicks that they have both left.

I lay there for a minute before my stomach starts feeling bubbly, I go to the bathroom to wash my face and cool of but it doesn't help; and so after a minute of debating I'm pretty sure I am indeed thirsty and some water sounds great.

I pad to the door clad only in my socks I took my boots off to sit on my bed, and open it quietly. Then wary of the fact the Paul and Eric could still be around I carefully begin creeping across the corridor to the door opposite.

I'm about halfway there when I hear a sigh and a voice say 'Alex'

I jump in surprise holding a hand to my heart 'What the hell, you scared me when did you get here' I ask whispering; confused and still slightly terrified looking at Paul and Eric who are watching me amused from down the corridor.

'We were here the whole time Ninja, we watched you creep out of you room trying to look like some kind of mission impossible spy or something' Paul says grinning at me whisper shouting.

I glare back 'you could have told me!'

'Where would be the fun in that' Eric says giving me a smirk.

'I just wanted some water' I say whispering still.

'I'll take you' Eric says in a normal voice glaring at Paul who looks all to happy now 'but we will continue this discussion tomorrow' he directs the last part at Paul who salutes before walking away.

Eric walks up beside me and turns me around the opposite way I was going, we walk for what seems like ages before we reach what look like some newer tunnels; higher up.

Eric steps in front of me before grabbing a key out of his pocket and opening the door, he goes inside without waiting for me and I hesitate to follow after him.

I go in and shut the door behind me and I'm greeted with a living room in front of me a big TV and comfy looking huge grey sofa rest in the centre of the room, everything is black and grey and the kitchen leading off the living room is the same.

Whereas the living room looked lived in, clean and orderly but defiantly lived in. The kitchen looks brand new. The only thing that looks like it works is the fridge that Eric goes to before pulling out two bottles of water, he hands one to me and I accept it gratefully; it seems to quell the bubbling of my stomach.

We lean against opposite counters sipping our water and so, it takes me a minute but with the water sobering me I finally realise where we are, I'm pretty sure this is where Eric lives!

'How's that side' Eric says disrupting me from my inner shock, that he actually brought me to his apartment.

'Fine' I mutter irritated 'My sparring partner was awfully nice to it today' I say narrowing my eyes at him.

He just snorts 'I have something for it' he says walking out and silently telling me to follow him.

I follow more out of curiosity then a need to do what he says, and he leads me into a bathroom with a cream claw foot tub that looks unused in the middle of the room. I stare in longing before Eric interrupts.

'Lift up your shift' he says gruffly.

'What' I ask in alarm.

He snorts again and I'm beginning to think it's a habit.

'Relax Lexi I'm just going to put some cream on your side it'll help it heal faster' he explains as if talking to a child.

His slip of the tongue regarding my full name shocks me, how did he know my name was Alexandria and why didn't he just say Alex like everyone else. It shocks me, but it also makes me feel warm and I like it.

'Honestly it's Fine Eric' I say stubbornly, I'm willing to bet this cream will hurt and right now I'm unaware of the pain in my body; I don't want to be reminded.

'It's either this or the Med unit' he says threateningly.

I glare at him before sitting on the edge of the bath and lifting my shirt huffily.

His eyes narrow when he sees my injured skin and I can see the anger in his eyes, he knows this wasn't from training taking a misplaced kick or punch. He knows someone did this with the intention of hurting me. He just doesn't know who.

Gentler than I ever thought possible Eric smears the cream all over my Ribs, and it actually feels quite cool and soothing. The only downside is that Eric's hands start fires wherever the cream cools and it's making my body ache for something unknown.

'Who did It Lexi' Eric asks again his eyes begging me to tell him, to let him fix it.

'No one important Eric' I say softly letting him know I'm okay.

He continues his work on my ribs, but I can feel his tension it sits in his shoulders keeping him stiff and taunt. I can't reach his shoulders so I absently bring my hand up to start stroking through his short hair and down onto his neck.

He tenses at first but then relaxes into it and I smile, we are both helping each other really.

Too soon for my liking he is all done and I drop my shirt letting it fall over my side once more, I feel sleepy and when Eric stands forcing my hand to drop from his head my eyes snap open.

'Come on' Eric says leading me back to the living room. He points with his eyes towards the sofa and I sit down for a moment, it was as comfy as I was expecting and I bring my legs up and curl up resting my head on a cushion.

Before long I hear Eric come back in the room and cover me with something thick and warm, it smells divine as I snuggle it around me.

'Lift your head' a gruff voice says before placing a pillow under me.

I feel cocooned in Eric now, all I can smell see and hear is him; but oddly I revel in it I've never felt more safe then I do right now.

'Alcohol is a poison you know' Eric's voice says out of somewhere in the room, I can't see because my eyes are closed.

'If it's a poison why do you drink it' I snark back thinking back to earlier.

Cause I have things inside me I want to kill' Eric's voice is but a whisper and the last thing I hear before sleep takes me.

 **All credit for that amazing quote to the writers of two and a half men and Charlie sheen, I loved it and so I had to use it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter guys and I would really love some reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I wake up and am immediately aware of the fact that for the first time since coming to dauntless, I'm comfortable. I can't hear the sounds of anyone else breathing around me and it's wonderful. I smile and then I remember everything that happened the night before.

I groan when I remember exactly where I am, having a sleepover on Eric's couch after making an ass out of myself in front of him and his friend. Great.

I peak out of my cocoon of covers when I see Eric walk into the room, fully dressed and ready for the day. Shit what time was it I scramble getting up trying to find a clock.

'It's an hour and a half before you have to be at training' Eric says interrupting my search for shoes, looking amused.

I look up at him my head pounding behind my eyes, he isn't looking at me any different and for a moment I think that I imagined the intimate moment between us in the bathroom last night.

'Do you know where my shoes are?' I say holding my head and squinting up at him.

'You decided you didn't need any last night' Eric says simply a small tug at his lower lip betraying his amusement.

I groan sitting back on my makeshift bed, I eye my pillow longingly. Maybe I could just go back to sleep for an hour.

Eric seems to catch on to my thinking however because he says 'Come on you need to get changed for training and then I need to drop something off at my office before today'

I jump up and immediately regret the decision as both my head and my body protest.

'What do you need to drop at your office, I don't mean to keep you I'm pretty sure I can find my way back from here' I say opening the door and trying to decide which way to go.

Eric snorts and assumingly ignores me as he shuts and locks the door behind us, then gives me a look saying come on before walking off down the hallway.

I mentally shrug and follow him, trying to ignore the sunlight streaming through a window at the end of the hall.

'how's the head' Eric looks amused.

'Fine how's yours' I retort hating his stupid smug pain free grin.

We arrive at the dorms without further talking and I quickly dash inside, liking the fact I'm on home ground again. I quietly go to my bunk and get out clean clothes and my toothbrush; taking care of business and finally finding my shoes I feel ready for the day.

I decide that since I'm up I'll go and see Martha and get some food before getting in some early training. I feel well rested since last night was the first decent sleep I had had in a while.

I make me way out of the dorms and nearly trip in surprise when I see Eric waiting for me, doing some sort of typing on a tablet.

'you waited for me?' I ask in confusion.

'I told you I need to drop some papers off at my office, then I assumed we were going to train?' Eric says bored as he starts walking continuing to click on his tablet.

I regard him suspiciously before following as we make our way into the pit, we get suspicious glance from dauntless members but if Eric notices he doesn't care; and we continue on our way.

When we finally reach what I assume are the dauntless leader's offices, Eric unlocks his and again everything is perfectly neat. There is only one chair in the room behind the desk and so with no other option I sit on the floor resting my head against the cool wall.

Eric goes to a printer on a side desk and picks up some papers, before shooting me a quick 'wait here' and leaving the room.

I'm happy with that decision and decide that to save my energy for training as little movement as possible is required. A few minutes later Eric comes in and grabs his tablet off the desk, he puts in back in his jacket pocket and then grabs his keys.

I take this as my cue to get up, and pull myself of the floor following Eric as he leaves the room, we make our way back the way we came towards the dining room. And I can't help but think that no one has come and said hi to Eric, when he looks at them people either nod in respect or avert their eyes.

Pairing this with only having one chair in his office and Eric seems pretty lonely, I bet no one ever visits him in his office or stops him just to have a chat. I frown it all seems so sad; for a leader he's young he should be teeming with people trying to talk to him.

'you need another chair in your office' I say confidently, deciding that I'm going to befriend this man if it's the last thing I ever do.

'why' he asks shocked as if that was the thing he least expected me to say.

'because otherwise when people visit you they have to sit on the floor and that's just rude' I say obviously.

His frown deepens 'people don't visit me Lexi'

'Well that's got to stop to, I mean maybe if you didn't frown at everyone they would be scared of you and you would have more visitors' I say explaining my master plan to make people less scared of Eric with a grin.

'But you're not scared of me are you' he asks still frowning, although now he looks more confused.

'Not even in your dreams buddy' I reply with a laugh.

He looks slightly mollified by that and we continue on to breakfast when we get there no one Is there again and Eric heads straight to the counter with food, he grabs a tray and starts collecting his food and I do the same.

The only difference is when he's done he grabs his cold drinks and goes to sit at his usual table where the other leaders and important people sit. Whereas I remain at the counter.

'Martha are you around' I shout making Eric look to me in surprise, I hear the usual bustle before Martha appears with a gorgeous smile for me.

'Hello Alex dear back again, how are you?' she asks politely.

'I'm fine Martha I was just wondering if you had any coffee, my head is killing me' I say holding my injured head.

'Of course dear, I'll bring you one over where are you going to sit' she says taking in the almost empty room.

I point up at Eric who is too far away to hear the conversation but look more confused the longer I talk to Martha.

'Alright dear, I'll bring you and your little friend a cup in a minute' she says smiling happily, likely glad for something to do before the breakfast rush.

I thank her profusely before grabbing my tray and going up to see Eric. I nod as I sit down grabbing my muffin and digging in.

'It feels weird to be sitting here' I say around my muffin.

Eric just shrugs 'what was that about, he says gesturing to where me and Martha were talking'

'oh that was just Martha' I grin the food making me feel better.

'who's Martha' he says around an apple.

'The cook here, she's so sweet and lovely she's going to bring us coffee in a minute. She's probably one of the few people here who don't know your reputation she called you my little friend' I say simply snorting.

Eric's eyes nearly bug out of his head 'she's bringing us coffee, and she called me little' he says clearly as if to clarify.

I nod my head and he frowns in confusion thankfully I'm saved from answering anymore of his questions when Martha interrupts us placing a tray of coffee and biscuits down next to us.

I grab my cup and add a few sugars before taking my first sip.

'Martha you are a God' I moan around my cup.

She giggles and fusses some more over me and Eric before leaving to start preparing the rest of breakfast. Eric looks all kinds of uncomfortable and I can't help but grin, I've never seen him look uncomfortable before.

'Come on mister' I say quoting Martha 'drink up' I say pointing to his coffee.

He looks at me suspiciously before he picks it up and takes a sip, his whole face relaxes and I can tell he's enjoying it.

We finish up our coffee and breakfast and with a quick thank you and goodbye for Martha, we leave to the training room.

When we get I look at Eric who is putting his jacket down, and think about how nice to me he's been his muscles ripple as his picks up a mat and places in on the floor; and I'm struck again with how good looking he is.

I get rid of my stuff and face him on the mat, my head is still aching but it's more of a dull ache now and I'm relieved as long as I stay hydrated I should be okay.

Before I know it the stretches are done and me and Eric are flying at each other, I'm defiantly improving with him, but I can't help but think it's unfair. If I get extra instruction, it's not giving the others a chance.

But then I think that they could get up early and they could ask for help, I'm not stopping them I'm just the only one asking for more; this reassures me and I'm temporarily happy, before I remember the little speech I gave Paul about Eric last night and I want to groan.

Before I know it I'm flat on my back Eric on top of me. He supports a lot of his weight though and so it's not uncomfortable far from it actually; I think I might like it too much.

'your head isn't in it; you could have easily dodged that' Eric growls from above me 'What's going on in there' he looks to my head.

'Nothing just thinking about something I said last night' I say blushing.

'What to Paul?' he says his face twisting in confusion, I nod and he releases me.

'Don't worry about it, he won't spread around whatever's making you blush like that' Eric says simply grinning looking determined.

'It's not him spreading it around I'm worried about' I mumble thinking I need to find Paul and make sure he doesn't tell Eric what I said.

'so it's just me you don't want knowing, interesting' Eric says smirking.

'aren't we supposed to be sparring' I say heatedly hoping that that never happens.

'I'll find out you know' he says getting back into position.

I follow suit desperately thinking God I hope not.

 **What did you think?! Shorter chapter I know but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! R &R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Me and Eric our still into our warm up moving fast and furiously at each other, when Four comes in. He eyes us suspiciously raising an eyebrow at Eric in particular; but doesn't say anything and walks over to the other side of the training room to start getting ready for the day.

It's then that Eric takes a look on the clock on the wall, his forehead crinkles and he gives me a narrow eyed glare before he stomps off growling under his breath, I watch his hasty exit with confusion and glance at Four who looks amused.

It's soon after that the other initiates trail in all looking sleepy eyed and dazed like they can't believe they are out of bed; I smirk my night at Eric's leaving me feeling refreshed as ever.

I make my way over to my friends, who are all yawning and trying desperately to wake themselves up probably hung over as I was earlier. They get even more confused when I walk over sweaty and refreshed.

'What happened to you last night, you never came back to the dorms?' Sabby asks looking positively green, but very entertained no less.

'Nothing I just crashed with a friend' I say trying to be indifferent like it happens all the time.

'You have a friend? A full dauntless member is your friend?' Mark says confused.

'Yup, oh look guys Four is about to put up the rankings' I say trying to distract them, it works they all turn to Four who has gathered everyone around a blackboard.

'Initiates, Today will show your rankings everyone above the red line is safe. Everyone else will be cut at the end of the first stage; don't forget you guys are ranked with the dauntless born and will have to fight them as well eventually' he says calmly and coolly before he steps away from the board and names and numbers appear on the screen.

I scan the list for my name starting at the bottom, I come in third and I stare in shock. I'm THIRD! No way I never thought I'd be so high when compared with the dauntless born; with only dean and Connor above me.

All of us have made it above the red line and I'm so excited, I automatically want to find Eric and tell him this means that I'm first in the initiate class!

We continue with training much like the other days, sparring against each other. Some people are desperately trying to prove a point in training today; but most of us are content to just keep our heads down and work.

However, when lunch rolls around I'm super excited, I can't wait to tell Eric. After all the time he's spent with me helping me work on my skills I'm sure he'll be pleased to; we make our way to the lunch hall and everyone around us is chatting a buzz in the air that we all made it above the red line.

I walk in and see Eric walking in from the other side of the hall, I'm automatically drawn to him and he looks extremely irritated like he's had the worst day the frown marring his face says it all. His face changes when he sees me though it goes softer and he raises an eyebrow in question.

How did it go? I smile hugely at him and start walking towards him fast, he starts towards me to looking amused and suddenly I can't control my excitement anymore. I bolt towards him and catch the surprised look in his eyes momentarily before I launch myself at him squealing in excitement.

Oblivious to the stares we are drawing or the shocked gasps or chokes coming from fellow dauntless member, he holds onto my legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

'I came third out of all of us ranked together' I squeal excitedly, finally pulling back to look at his face.

'And out of the transfers?' he says amused and genuinely curious, still holding me up and close to him in the middle of the dauntless food hall.

'I came first' I basically shout at him hugging him tightly 'Thank you so so so so much, I know you've helped me immensely' I whisper in his ear and give him a squeeze to help emphasize my point.

He squeezes me back and then a cough from behind me makes me freeze, I quickly detangle myself from Eric and take a step away from him looking round the room at the wide eyed stares of shocked dauntless members.

Fortunately for me the leaders table looks far to amused to be angry some of the outright chuckling at the blush staining my face now; I look at Eric who is glaring angrily at everyone especially the person behind me.

I turn to see none other than a very smug Paul standing there, looking at Eric and smirking. Eric's glare only increases and he closes the distance that I had made between us possessively.

He grabs my arm tightly and leads me over to his normal seat, my friends look on in states of amusement, shock and smugness as Eric forces me into a seat at the leaders table with him and glares at everyone around us, Paul sits opposite from us next to a leader Max on one side and Four on the other.

Eric pushes his tray towards me 'Eat' he says a demand not a request.

'I can't sit here, and this is your food' I whisper shout at him, aware of the curious eyes on us.

'Why can't you sit here, and we can share' he punctuates the statement by pushing the huge bowl of chicken and rice to me.

'It's the leaders table, and this is your seat so you're probably sitting in someone else's seat and then where will they sit' I again whisper shriek at him becoming hysterical now.

Just as he is about to reply a brown haired lanky guy with ear stretchers comes towards our table tray full looking oblivious.

'Ethan' Eric barks at the man, who stumbles and nearly drops his tray.

'Err yes Eric' he stumbles nervously.

'You don't mind me borrowing your seat for lunch today right?' he says smoothly.

'Err no Eric, Sir Eric' he says stumbling nervously and walking away quickly.

'That wasn't nice Eric, that poor guy looked like he was about to crap his pants talking to you' I glare at him in disapproval.

'But now we have proved that you can sit there and I can sit here, now can you just eat.' He gives me a glare back, but I refuse to back down.

Eventually Eric huffs and looks away grabbing the rice for himself and starting to eat, I look at his tray and grab the muffin sitting on it. Eric looks pleased by this but doesn't say anything as he continues to eat.

I look up to see all three dauntless men looking at me in shock, staring eyes darting between me and Eric.

'Stop staring at her' Eric growls from beside me noticing my unease.

This just makes their eyes pop out further, everyone except Paul who composes himself quickly.

'So Alex how are you feeling today' Paul says shooting me a grin.

I glare looking at Max 'Fine' I grit out.

'How are you fitting in here at dauntless Alex' Max says finally composing himself and looking near laughter.

'Fine thank you, so far everyone has been pretty nice to me' I say politely.

'Some nicer than others' Four murmurs from his spot giving Eric a rare grin, and if looks could kill then Four would be a dead man with the look Eric shoots him.

'So Eric has been treating you well, I'm glad he's finally got someone who balances him out. Explains why he was late to our meeting this morning that's never happened before.' Max says smiling at me warmly.

I choke on Eric's orange juice 'It's not like that, We're friends' I splutter indignantly turning to Eric. _He was late to his meeting to train for me?_

' I used to have a 'friend' like that' Max says laughing interrupting my thoughts he grabs his tray standing 'let's hope you make it through initiation, I hope to see a lot more of you Alex' he grins leaving.

Just like that my cheerful mood disintegrates, what if I don't make it through. What is I have to leave and become factionless; the thought makes me shiver.

'You'll make it' Eric says giving me a determined look and pushing the rest of the rice towards me, I accept gratefully and give him the rest of the orange juice.

I start digging in to the rice and give Eric a surprised look, this is really really good not bland at all the sauce not thick but not thin just perfect. He gives me a smug grin _told you to eat it._

I grin around his fork and stick my tongue out making him roll his eyes before grabbing an orange of the tray.

'So Alex, how did you sleep last night' Paul says breaking our moment.

'Great thanks' I say scathingly.

'I see Eric has moved on to better friends' Paul says with a smug smirk and I'm immediately reminded of what I said last night.

 _'He's not a bad guy, he doesn't want to hurt people. You're labelling him as this monster when in reality all he does is help people there is this huge stigma that Eric is a big ball buster, when in fact Four has been meaner than Eric has been! He's a good trainer and I'm betting a good leader to and maybe if he had nicer friends people wouldn't think he was such a giant douche.'_

My speech echo's in my mind and I groan, Paul's smirk just widens and he turns to a now confused Eric.

'Did you know that people are supposedly most honest when they are drunk. Something about alcohol giving them the courage to say things they wouldn't sober' Paul asks Eric seriously.

'Is this what distracted you at training' Eric says turning to me, I squirm in my seat as three sets of eyes turn to me.

'I don't know what he's talking about' I say eyes wide blushing and grabbing the apple on the tray taking a bite to calm myself.

'You were distracted at training' Four asks seriously.

'No!' I say indignantly.

'I've heard you've been a bit of a meanie at training Four' Paul asks him sending me a wink, which only infuriates Eric more.

'I do what's necessary' Four says glowering now 'Look I have to hit the computer room before lunch I'll see you guys later' He says darting out distracted quickly after a pretty looking girl with a braid.

Paul snorts 'Maybe you've just gone soft then Eric'

'What the hell are you talking about' Eric says angry now.

'Paul Stop!' I say raising my voice slightly, not enough to gain outside attention but enough to get them both to look at me.

'Look I said some drunk things about you when this guy was being an asshole' I say pointing to Paul and glowering.

Paul gives a chuckle then 'I was just testing you to see if you were strong enough for my little Eric here'

'Did I pass' I ask sarcastically.

'With flying colours Dove' he grins at me.

'You're the worst best friend ever Paul' Eric growls at him.

'Hey she protected you' Paul says pointing at me.

'She actually told me off for being a shitty friend, I think the exact word she used was stigma. She basically told me that I was perpetuating the stigma the you were an asshole; I was going to tell her you liked it like that but she was just so mad and her rant was cute so I didn't' he said with a shrug finishing up his food with a grin at us.

Eric's face is frozen and I have no idea what he's thinking, but when he finally does move it's to glare at Paul.

'Don't call her cute' he says tightly.

'You're not as bad as you want people to think, and he was being mean!' I cry indignant and embarrassed pointing at Paul who holds his hands up in surrender.

Eric just looks confused, angry and confused. It's an odd look on Eric and he quickly masks it his face turning passive.

'Look it's not a big deal, let's just move on' I say with a glare at Paul who is waiting for Eric to say something, when he doesn't he just shrugs turning to me.

Eric gives me a short glare that lacks any malice it's more confusion than anger, and I can't help but smile at it. We turn back to our food and continue to share everything, and I'm full up by the time we have emptied the tray.

'I'm going to get back to training' I say looking at the clock and quickly finishing my juice.

Eric stands up to and we both go to grab the tray 'I can take it Eric you got it' I say fiercely pulling the tray towards me.

He grunts and uses his strength to grab the tray and take it to the bin, I follow behind mad.

'I could have just as easily done that' I murmur at his back annoyed.

'so could I Lexi' Eric shoots back gruffly.

I start to walk to training and to my surprise Eric joins me 'How are the ribs today' he asks quietly.

'Good, that cream seemed to help a lot they are already turning yellow' I reply with a smile in thanks, lifting my shirt to show him the damage.

He sweeps an assessing glance over it 'It needs some more cream the healing will just make it hurt more when it's hit'

'I know but tomorrow is the first fights and I need to be ready, there is no use worrying about it now' I say with a shrug.

Eric glares at this 'Don't protect it too much to highlight it as a weakness but don't leave it unprotected. Keep your arm close and use your angles to your advantage'

'I know Eric; I'll be fine' I say putting my hand on his arm reassuringly.

He stops and we turn to each other, 'Did you mean what you said to Paul' he says lowly and carefully staring at me in the eyes so that he could see any shift or darkening hinting that I was lying.

'Yes' I reply confidently and without hesitation.

'You're not a monster Eric, I mean sure you like to punish dickwads but they deserve it. You have a surly personality but that's just you; you never do anything without a reason' I say smiling at him.

I take my hand of his arm and break eye contact walking away, leaving him to collect his thoughts and draw his own conclusions.

I walk into training at the same time as my friends and the rest of the evening progresses quickly we all complete training in higher spirits than the day before, that afternoon we covered guns and unlike the knives that were too light I was a natural, the weight of the gun felt comfortable in my hands.

It made me feel powerful like I could take on anything or anyone, we all skip down to dinner that night we are all ecstatic that we aren't being cut and we all feel proud.

We decide that we are going to go into the pit to get tatoo's or piercings and I can't help but feel excited, it's the first real dauntless thing we will have done since coming here.

 **i loved writing this chapter, i love the protective aspect to Eric's personality and i hoped you guys did too. Pretty please with a cherry on top review and give me your thoughts.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

We all head into the pit a jumble of limbs and squeals are emotions overflowing leaving us on a high, Mark and Jeremy want to get tattoo's and me and Sabby follow them excited. When we get into the shop there are various artists everywhere either working on people or sitting on the sofa's, in what looked like a small communal living area.

There are a small group of people sitting on the sofa's chatting or sketching and they immediately notice us when we walk in.

'Hey look it's Eric's girl' a guy with shoulder length brown hair, bright green eyes and an easy smile shouts out as we walk in.

I look around confused before realising they are all staring at me 'Erm we're just friend's guys'

'That's not what it looked like when you jumped him in the food hall' a messy blond haired girl snarks.

'Leave her alone Cindy, what can I do for you guys' he says coming up to Sabby and grinning.

Mark and Jeremy point out the tattoo's they want and the guy who we learn is called Kol leads us over to his chair, he quickly gets Mark prepped first all while keeping up a running flirtation with Sabby.

For the most part he seems friendly though and lets us browse harmlessly while the boys have matching dauntless flames drawn onto their wrists.

Me and sabby decide to forgo getting a tattoo until after our first fight though but we do decide on piercings Sabby decides to get her labret pierced while I go for my tongue.

It's numb at first but as I get out of the chair so sabby can get in I begin to feel how big my tongue has swollen and a slight stinging pain. I'm examining it in the mirror when I hear the shop door open and the chatter dies down some; without looking I know who it is.

Kol is interrupted from a very dirty joke by a disgruntled Paul and a stone faced Eric coming over.

'Paul man good to see you' he says grinning at the guys and giving Sabby a dirty wink.

I see Paul's jaw twitch and Eric looks at him his eyes betraying his amusement. It's odd how after such a short time I can read the emotions that pass through him, the ones others find difficult to interpret.

'Nice piercing' Paul says his eyes never leaving sabby who looks embarrassed by the attention.

I had caught her up with what happened with Paul and Eric last night and so her reaction isn't completely unfounded.

My eyes however are drawn to Eric when he speaks.

'Kol' the one word asks a questions and delivers a threat. Of what I'm not sure.

'Ah don't worry Eric man I barely touched your girl, although from what I'm hearing she ain't exactly yours' Kol laughs mischievously deliberately making it sound like more had happened.

Eric's eyes shoot to me 'Is that right?' he asks tauntingly.

I glare my disapproval and fight the urge to stick my tongue out and show him what barely means.

Mark and Jeremy choose this moment to come back into the room laughing, but stopping when they realise that Eric and Paul are there too.

'Er hey guys what did we miss' Jeremy asks glaring at Eric mark joining him.

'I'll tell you guys later' I say lisping slightly but not noticeably. I hope.

They look at me confused but shake their heads anyway coming over and jostling me. I laugh hitting them back before they stop and look at me excited.

'Let's see then Ali' Mark says grinning at a now stone eyed Eric.

I shake my head in embarrassment but they start towards me conspiratorly and I can't help but get nervous and open my mouth.

'Wow that looks awesome, maybe I should get mine done' Jeremy says impressed.

I peak over at Eric nervously but I'm surprised when I see the heat in his eyes as he stares at my tongue, Paul is staring at Eric and starts laughing.

We all turn to him surprised but it's quickly replaced by concern when we hear sabby hiss and turn to see Kol threading the bar through the hole, he cleans her up when she's done and Paul is quick to get between any flirtation between them.

I think it's sweet when I realise that he is totally into sabby, and she's completely oblivious. The thought makes me grin when I realise that he's going to have to work hard to get her approval. Sabby like the rest of us had walls that would have to be broken down.

I see Eric trying to hide his grin as he to watches them interact.

'So what's next guys' Sabby asks ignoring some form of question that Paul had just asked.

'The bar' Mark grins.

'I really don't want another hangover' I groan as the others laugh. 'I'm gana head back to the dorm maybe go see Martha but you guys go I'll see you later'

'I'm the same guys, I desperately need a good night's sleep' Sabby chirps up.

'You girls!' Jeremy exclaims loudly.

'No stamina' Mark agree's grinning.

'Says you boys, I remember the barn incident Mark' Mark's grin turns into one of embarrassment as the rest of us bar Eric and Paul crack up laughing.

We say our goodbyes to the boys who head off betting on who could drink what and so forth.

'I'm gana head to the kitchens for a while, but I'll meet you at the dorms later' I say grinning at Sabby.

'As long as you save me something sweet' she says in a sing song voice, probably remembering the stories I've told her about baking back in Erudite.

I turn to walk towards the kitchens but then remember Paul and Eric who had been standing watching the altercation, I give them a wave and a quick see you later before starting off on my way.

I haven't taken more than a few steps when someone grabs my wrist I turn to give them a serious warning about touching me before I realise who it is.

'why are you going to the kitchen' he asks gruffly staring at me in that odd way he had been since my unexpected show of affection towards him this afternoon.

' I feel like baking, it helps me think and destress' I say quietly as we fall into step next to each other.

'You stressed?' he asks shortly sounding surprised.

'A little I have demons just like everyone else, I'm just trying not to let them eat me' I shrug self-conscious.

We lapse into a comfortable silence then until we got close to the kitchens when Eric decided to lead me down a different corridor since he seemed to know where he was going I let him not concerned.

He stops in front of a door and unlocks it leading me inside, inside there is food everywhere dried food organised on shelves and a special area refrigerated for cold stuff. Eric grabs a canvas bag off a pile near the doorway and gives it to me.

'Get what you need for your cakes' he grumbles.

I look at him confused 'Why I'm sure Martha has everything I need in the kitchen' I wonder aloud.

'Just get what you need and you can make it in my apartment' he grumbles again more moodily this time seemingly slightly self-conscious.

I start grabbing ingredients before I stop and turn to Eric 'What's your favourite sweet' I ask him with a smile.

'Why' he glares back suspicious.

'Damn it Eric I'm not going to poison you just tell me' I growl at him motioning to the ingredients.

I see the comprehension in his eyes before mumbles out a quiet 'Anything with Lemon or chocolate'

I grin at his obvious uncomfortableness before gathering the ingredients I need for simple double chocolate chunk cookies and lemon drizzle cake. I decide to make both to show my thanks for letting me use his cooker.

I fill my bag and then head back over to Eric who waited by the door patiently, when I get there he reaches for the bag but I hold it back stubbornly and he growls before snatching it and marching out.

I follow him grumbling about his Neanderthal tactics as he shuts and locks the door behind me, we take a quick walk to his apartment and the calm I feel when we step inside is surprising. Eric walks ahead and drops the bag in the kitchen before walking out leaving me there.

I quickly unpack my ingredients and lay them out where I need then, then I look down at my clothes and frown I don't want to get all dirty.

I'm looking for an apron when Eric comes back in his Jacket gone and his boots removed he hops up on the counter watching me.

'What are you looking for' he asks sipping from a bottle of water and then handing me one out of the fridge next to him.

'an apron or something I don't want to get flour all over my clothes' he stares at me for a second before disappearing and coming back with a large white t-shirt that is obviously his.

I take it gratefully and smile my thanks slipping it on over my clothes and letting it dwarf me; and then I start to bake Eric just watches me silently for the most part unless it's to answer a question of mine about where something is.

'How are the ribs' he says finally interrupting my inner musing about how his arms looked tensed against the counter top.

'Fine' I reply noncommittally.

'That's what you said the first time Lexi I'm not buying that again lettme see' he says glaring.

I huff turning around and pulling up my shirts to show him the yellow green bruise covering my ribs, it's a lot better considering it was nearly black it was so purple yesterday.

'It's healing good, I bet it hurts like a bitch because of it though' he murmurs quietly poking slightly to inspect my ribs his eyes going hard and angry again as I pull my shirt down and he sits back on the counter top.

'Nothing I can't deal with' I murmur turning back around to put my cake in the oven.

Thankfully he doesn't ask who did it again, and I'm relieved that i don't have to deal with that today.

'Why are you different with me Eric' I ask when both sweet treats are safely in the oven and I start rinsing the pots to put in the dishwasher.

'What are you saying' Eric asks defensively standing up to take the rinsed items and load them in.

'I don't know what's happening here Eric, but if you're just playing with me I need to know' I say surprising myself with my honesty.

'I'm not playing with you why would you even think that' he replies angrily offended.

'Because everyone is telling me you don't do this and how different you are and I just don't understand I'm not trying to change you!' I explode back.

'I can't be changed Lexi' He shoots back at me the words daggers.

'No, you don't need to be Eric' I say quietly as almost a whisper as I give him the last item and turn to him.

He loads it avoiding my eye as he turns it on and then finally looks up, what I see in his eyes makes me gasp it's a sea of self-loathing and sweetness and hundreds of other whirling emotions swirling around viciously like a storm.

I can't help myself I go to him wrapping my arms around him tightly as if I can take the hurt and make it go away make it better.

'All I know is things are better when you're around' he murmurs softly.

'Then don't leave' I say looking up at him, I pass his lips on my inspection of his face and my eyes do a double take.

The air around us switches then and I can feel the tension surrounding us, Eric's eyes heat up again swirling but this time with an emotion I recognise; I'm just as lost to it as he is.

He grabs my neck gently but firmly and winds his hand into the back of my hair, before yanking me forward and kissing me hard.

He dominates my mouth and I become consumed by how good It feels, how good he feels as he lifts me up and backs me into the counter top. Our hands wander everywhere trying desperately to pull us closer, he forces my body into his and I squirm decadently.

 **I'm so sorry it's been such a long time since I updated, sorry for any followers of my other story this life our life as well I am working on it but unfortunately limited time coupled with a bit of writes block has left the next chapter unfinished. This was written in the early hours of the morning so as always please ignore my mistakes. As you guys know I would love if you could READ AND REVIEW I love you all thank you** **J**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Sorry for the long update again but I had a shot of inspiration so I hope you enjoy this! Pretty please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! They Inspire me. Enjoy** **J**

All too soon I'm yanked from my lust by the sound of an alarm going off Eric springs back confused and I realise it's the oven alarm

'Sorry, my cookies are done' I whisper my voice hoarse as I go to the oven and remove the tray of tasty treats leaving my loaf lemon cake inside to bake.

I place them on the side avoiding eye contact with Eric, and leaving them to cool I fiddle around nervously.

'What are you doing to me Lexi' Eric whispers suddenly right behind me his voice washing over my neck.

I lean back into him without answering relishing in the safety of his body behind me, just the heat coming off his body comforting me.

'Hey Eric you want a cookie?' I ask softly.

He grunts his affirmation and I break off a piece of hot gooey cookie and turn to him, he opens his mouth and I pop it in. He chews thoughtfully.

'It's good' he grunts.

'It's like you assume it wouldn't be, I told you I can cook!' I say indignant.

He smirks at me as I also break of a piece of the same cookie and chew letting the simple flavours soothe me. I quickly take the lemon cake out of the oven before pouring the lemon sauce over it and placing it next to the cookies to cool.

I wring the tea towel in my hands nervously 'Thanks for letting me bake here Eric, but I should go, early night and all'

'Stay' the one word a demand.

'Eric I don't know what this is' I say nervously my voice a whisper.

'Stay' he says again his voice firmer this time.

'I'm scared' I whisper turning to him begging him to see the turmoil going on inside me, I've never had these feelings before and they are terrifying me.

'Of me' he says his eyes displaying his anxiousness his tension.

'Never' I cry indignantly.

He seems appeased and backs me into the corner cradling my face is his hand, his eyes inexplicitly soft.

'Stay' he whispers again.

I close my eyes leaning my face further into his hand using my nose to nuzzle it 'okay' I murmur softly.

He gives me a soft smile before it's quickly gone and he turns and walks away, only this time I know he expects me to follow and I do taking in his apartment on my way. He leads me to the same bathroom as last time but this time goes through the door on the other side.

We enter what I know is his room there are a few papers and files on top of a big chest of draws, a wardrobe next to that and then his huge bed, an armchair sits in the corner and all of his furniture is solid oak and looks well kept.

He goes over to the draws an opens one pulling out a shirt and giving it to me.

'You can sleep in this' he grumbles.

'thanks' I mumble turning back towards the bathroom.

'Let me put some cream on your ribs first' he says softly following me.

I sit on the bathtub again taking of his flour covered shirt and giving it to him, he quickly discards it in the corner as I lift my shirt to let him apply it.

He applies it methodically but softer than I ever thought possible as I softy stroke his hair again and I give him a nod as a silent thank you when he finishes, he returns my nod putting the cream back and leaving the room.

I quickly change into his shirt folding my clothes and taking them with me back into the lounge sitting on the sofa waiting for him to bring me a blanket or something.

It's a few minutes later when Eric appears in the doorway glaring.

'Why are you in here?' he grumbles his tiredness making him even more disgruntled than normal.

'I was just waiting for you to bring me a blanket or something' I say curling my feet under me on the sofa.

'Come with me' he growls his frown deepening.

I frown confused but follow him back to his room anyway.

'You can sleep in here' he points at the bed.

'I can't take your bed Eric' I say shocked that he'd offer it.

'We're both adults Lexi' he smirks letting me know he plans on us sharing it.

I blush heavily my face turning a deep scarlet and he gives a low half growl half chuckle, before coming towards me invading my space.

'Just sleep Lexi' he whispers to me his amusement evident.

I eye him warily but can't help but see the sincerity in his gaze.

'Are you sure?' I can't help but ask nervously.

'Just get in bed Lexi' he says rolling his eyes at me impatient.

I grumble about his impatience climbing under the covers and getting comfy, watching as he closes the door then the lights before lumbering over to the bed gracefully and sliding in.

I lay as still as I can waiting to see what he does as I lay right on the edge of the bed taking up as little room as possible. He gets in and is still for a moment before he reaches over and hooks an arm around my waist dragging me to him leaving his arm tightly around my waist.

I tense for a moment before easing back into him and relaxing, just as I feel sleep about to claim me I hear him whisper to me.

'I'm scared too Lexi, but you make everything better' he says it so quietly I'm sure he thinks I'm asleep but I've never been more glad to be awake. I finally fall asleep tucked into him with a gigantic grin on my face.

I'm woken up what feels like minutes later by a deep voice calling me.

'Lexi' it says from somewhere nearby.

'nooooo' I growl burying myself under the covers pulling a pillow over my head.

'Lexi' I hear the voice call again sounding amused this time.

I growl again burying deeper, leave me alone I'm trying to sleep here.

'Lexi get up' the voice says louder this time.

I come to consciousness slowly sitting up and frowning, all I was trying to do was sleep and I was ruthlessly disturbed. I glare at the offending partner before realising that it's Eric and that I'm in Eric's bed.

 _Oh shit_

'who knew you could be so irritable' Eric says amused.

'I don't like being woken up' I growl sitting up and yawning irritably.

I look out the window to see that it's still dark outside. Is he insane. He could have at least let me sleep until early morning not just late at night. I glare at him darkly his amusement pissing me off.

'What time is it' I groan falling back into the pillows.

'Its 12:30 you have to get up we have to go to war games' he says before stalking out of the room. For a second I think this is all a cruel joke, that my subconscious is playing on me and in reality I'm still dreaming.

I snuggle back into the pillows, I'll wake up in a minute and everything will be all right.

It feels like seconds later when the covers are viciously yanked off me and clothing chucked at me.

'What the hell' I get up angry, cold and mad.

'I told you war games, now you don't have time for coffee get your ass dressed we leave in ten minutes' Eric says darkly trying to be intimidating and I can't help but think he's trying to hide his amusement.

8 minutes later I emerge from his room dressed and ready to go, I see him at the counter in the kitchen and glare at his back.

'Took you long enough' he says almost as soon as I step inside the room.

I can't even speak to him, his annoyingly perfect face, his attitude is downright perky considering its Eric and all it does is piss me off. I silently glare at him. Bring it on.

We leave the apartment quickly after that and my irritation only heightens when I see Eric carrying a travel mug of some description, I can almost smell the coffee inside and I want to whine.

'What war game' I manage to growl out on the walk to meet the other initiates.

'Capture the Flag' he smirks back taking a sip of his coffee.

I wrap my arms around myself cold as we get outside, and the wind hits me. Eric's smirk drops into a glare at that but he doesn't say anything as we approach Four who is waiting by the train on his own, over the hill I can see the other initiates start to make their way over to us but we get their first.

Eric and Four nod at each other, while Four gives me a small smug smile. Not in the mood for his attitude I just glare back at both of them.

Four shoots Eric and intrigued look but Eric just gives that stupid smug grin and I hate him a little for it.

'She doesn't like to be woken up' Eric grunts as an explanation.

Four snorts and I've just about had enough.

' NO ONE LIKES GETTING WOKEN UP! SLEEP IS PRECIOUS' I growl at both of them shouting.

Four looks shocked and surprised while Eric holds his amused grin, coming closer to me invading my personal space. All I can smell is his delicious cologne and fresh coffee and my mouth starts to salivate.

'Tone down the attitude, I don't think Four can take it' he growls in my ear darkly, as I shoot a look over to an increasingly confused and irritated four.

'What about you' I whisper back deciding to have a little fun of me own.

'What?'

'Can you take it?' I draw out the last two words practically purring them, as I step away from Eric just as the other initiates arrive.

His eyes light with fire as I smirk smugly, going over to my friends.

'Hey guys, are you excited!' I smile happy.

They all look confused and still very sleepy, but eventually mark manages to grumble out.

'We don't even know what's going on, Four dragged us out of bed and told us to get down here in 10 minutes or become factionless' he grunts out with a yawn.

I'm just about to tell them when I hear Eric shout 'Listen up'

Everyone's attention turns to him and a quiet falls among the group as he continues 'The train will be here in 1 minute I expect everyone to get on it and then I expect silence as me and Four will explain what's going to happen.'

We can here the Train in the distance and before I know it we are all running, the first time since we started that we did it without loud whooping and cheering.

Thankfully we all make it on time and sit down in silence trying to regain our breath, I look to Eric who isn't even out of breath and still holding his coffee seemingly content. That is until our eyes meet and the fire in them startles me.

Four quickly stands up and starts explaining the rules of Capture the Flag, then while everyone is getting their equipment fitted I manoeuvre my way over to Eric. Who quickly helps me get mine sorted out.

'Can I have some of your coffee' I pout as he tightens the straps on my gun stepping back.

The tiredness is getting to me and I can't help it when I smell the coffee on him from our close proximity.

'What do I get in return' he asks with a smirk.

'My undying gratitude' I ask batting my eyelashes comically.

It works he snorts and hands me the cup, I cling to it gratefully and actually moan when I take a sip. It's not as sweet or creamy as I usually have it, but its still gorgeous and just as I imagine Eric drinks it.

'That sound was so much sweeter when I heard it earlier' Eric whispers in my ear before stealing the cup back.

I gasp at him smacking his shoulder lightly as I re-join my friends.

'Hey guys' I say warmly cuddling up to Sabby.

'Hey Ali, how's Eric' she says shooting me a grin.

'Shuttup' I groan as everyone starts laughing.

'What if we aren't on the same team' Sabby grumbles unhappily.

'Then we try not to shoot each other anyways. I guess it doesn't matter much we might have to, they won't hurt that bad' Mark replies as unhappy with the thought as the rest of us.

'I guess so' Sabby mutters gloomily.

'Hey you never know we might get lucky, we could all get on the same team!' I say brightly trying to stay positive.

A dauntless born snorts as he walks past me 'We all know who's team you're going to be on slut' he smirks at me viciously.

All at once all of us are standing, my friends behind me backing me up and his behind him.

'What did you just say' Ryder growls out confrontationally, trying to step in front of me.

'Well it's no one her rating is so high when she's screwing her way to the top' he says aggressively making his friends laugh.

'How dare you! I earned my rank, your just jealous because you can't get off the bottom.' I growl back, I have no idea who this guy is but my suspicions are confirmed when his frown gets darker.

'Only because whore's like you stole my place' he growls back getting in my face.

I'm just about to hit him when he's is yanked away by his neck, I look up expecting to find one of the boys yanking him back. But then I see Dean looking at him and he's very pissed off.

'What's going on here Huck' He glowers at him still not releasing the struggling Huck.

'None of your business' he chokes back.

'Seems to me like you were being disrespectful to my friend, and that's something that doesn't sit right with me' Dean growls back as he drops him and comes over to me.

I smile up at him and he puts his arm round my shoulders in support, not that I couldn't have kicked Huck's ass but having a dauntless born put another dauntless born In his place had a far bigger effect than any beating I could have dished out.

'What's happening over here' I hear a deep voice boom.

'Nothing Sir' Huck grits out.

'I hope you remember this' Dean says glaring at him and pulling me closer, as the rest of our group Connor now included gather at my back.

Huck shoots a hateful glare at all of us before him and his small group of friends slink away.

'Initiates, we don't have time for this' Eric's voice booms again forcing me to look at him.

I look at him warily before averting my gaze what Hucks said still echoing in my head.

I do however look thankfully into the faces of my friends, hugging them and apologising all at once.

'Hey no need for that, we're a team. That guy was out of order Ali, everyone knows how awesome you are on the mat' Jeremy says ruffling my hair affectionatly, I giggle and hug him to and we are only interrupted when a loud voice shouts.

'Time to pick teams'

 **What did you think?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

I look up at Four, who I can tell has something up his sleeve.

'You can pick first' Eric says reluctantly and it's then I realise what.

'Alex' he says grinning as I make my way over, everyone falls silent at the look of malice in Eric's eyes.

'Dean' Eric shouts, and on and on it goes until everyone is finished.

On the plus side, we have Ryder, Mark and Connor. On the negative side they have Sabby, Dean and Jeremy the group split down the middle seems unfair, but I guess there is nothing we can do about it now and at least the dreadful Huck is on Eric's team.

The game quickly commences with our team leaving the train first, we quickly come up with a plan and then we wait. My position is with Ryder guarding the flag and shooting anyone who tries to get near to it; but doing it from a hidden position.

Overall, it's pretty uneventful we shoot one dauntless born who tries a sneak attack and ends up crying from all the darts we hit him we, thinking about it makes me still smirk as I remember him backing up Huck in our earlier confrontation.

All too soon we hear the sound of whoops and Hollers as a huge group rush towards us holding the opposing teams flag, both Four and Eric look a bit worse for wear but Four is smiling madly and Eric is glowering even worse than before.

I begin to make my way over to the other realising there is no need to stay covered when I feel a sharp pain hit me three times on my injured side, I double over to see Huck standing there smirking at me.

All too soon though the partying stops as Eric rushes over to me and rolls me, as soon as he see's where the darts have hit he roars loudly as he pulls them out, he tries to lift my shirt but I stop him glancing at the others who have stopped to see what's happened.

Eric leaves quickly and I straighten up just in time to see him rush at Huck.

'The game was over, and you attacked her from behind' he growls at him picking him up by the throat and flinging him on the floor.

Sabby is quickly at me side, followed by the others all rushing to make sure I'm okay.

'I'm fine he just hit me all in the same spot from a really close distance is all' I leave out the fact my side was previously injured but I know that this time I might actually have broken a rib and holding in the pain is becoming to much.

'Eric' I groan out trying to sound strong.

He stops his foot on Huck's neck Four quickly swoops in and grabs him marching off shooting me a look of regret before barking orders at the other to make their way back to the train.

Eric comes over to us, glaring at the reassuring arms that Mark and Jeremy lay over me.

'Broken?' he asks his voice still murderous but slightly softer.

'I'm good' I answer back trying to be logical and not let him know how bad it hurts and also fighting the need to throw up.

He closes the distance between us and feels my side, but the pressure is too much and I grip his neck tightly digging my nails in to avoid screaming.

His touch is gentle but it feels like hell, and I bite my lip and hold onto him to avoid letting anyone realise how much this is killing me.

'Med Centre. Now' his glare is cold but I can see the longing to track down Huck in his eyes, and know I can't let him dish out a punishment that really is mine to give.

I turn to my friends all watching us with expressions ranging from sympathy to murderous.

'Guys don't do anything rash, first day of fights is tomorrow. He will get what's coming to him, go home sleep and I'll be back soon I just got to get my side checked out quick. I'm sure it's nothing but it doesn't hurt to check' I smile at them using my childhood experience to successfully mask my pain.

Them look torn but I think the sincerity of my expression wins them over as they all bumble back for the Train. Leaving me with Eric.

As soon as they are gone I turn to him, the effort of keeping up the smile is hard but I manage it. Until Eric says.

'Don't try that shit with me. Let's go' he bends to pick me up but I stop him.

'Actually I don't think that's a good idea, I think staying upright is probably what's best right now' I say softly but as I say it I realise that he'll realise what I'm basically saying is, my ribs could be broken.

He growls and I throw my arm around his neck as we slowly limp towards the Train. I stop cold.

'Eric I can't get on the train' I whisper in shock, only then do tears fill my eyes. I want to go home.

He sees the tears and he stops pulling me against him 'Don't worry about it, trust me' he says his voice surly and I can tell my unprecedented emotions are waring with his need to hunt the guy down and make him bleed, I can feel his anger. But I've never felt safer.

It turns out Eric's master plan was to have me get on his back-piggy back style, keeping me vertical while he gracefully lept on the train making sure to fall gently and land on his feet so I was barely jostled.

I smile a real genuine smile at him, and he returns a boyish grin. I half lean half sit on his lap during the journey so I don't have to fully sit down, but also so the momentum of the train doesn't affect me.

Before I know it I'm hobbling to the med centre, the pain in my side is excruciating but Eric doesn't let go of me and it anchors me keeping me concentrating on the goal. His patience is surprising he doesn't rush me or get annoyed, his expression is constant and showing only one thing. Concern.

When I finally walk in the doctor rushes over before making me lay flat down on a bed, I eye it dubious about sitting and scrunching my ribs. Eric notices and glares at the doctor before picking me up keeping my body strait and laying me down.

I hiss in discomfort but I know if I would have down it myself it would have hurt a lot more so I nod my thanks.

'I'm going to need you to remove your shirt so I can assess the damage' the doctor says looking at Eric.

'Eric you need to leave' he says and I can tell by his voice that he doesn't want to be telling Eric this.

Eric just glares at him unmoving and before he decides to call security and a fight ensues I decide to interrupt.

'It's fine' I growl out impatient to be seen so I can go to bed.

'Are you sure miss' he glares at Eric, but shrinks back when he sees Eric's expression. _Soooo not a good day to test him Doc._

'Yea it's fine and my name is Alex can we just get this over with' I plead as I try to get out of my shirt. The doctor just stands there waiting and I glare at him, the pain is making me dizzy isn't he supposed to realise and help?

Eric growls again before stalking over to me, he bends down to pull a knife out of his boot before cutting the seem of the shirt and then helping me remove it.

He keeps eye contact with me the whole time and it helps me focus, locking onto his grey eyes gives me strength and I smile softly at his stroking his chin, he leans into it closing his eyes and inhaling until the doctor rudely breaks the moment.

'Jesus, what on earth have you been doing' he exclaims loudly.

'War games' I answer coldly as my hand drops and Eric's eyes finally leave mine turning to ice when they focus on my side.

'I'm going to need to examine them, this is probably going to hurt' the doctor says glancing between me and an Eric that looks like he is coiled and ready for attack.

'Go for it' I say getting ready.

He stills looks hesitant but begins to probe my ribs, I bite my lip and clench my fists to stop from screaming when he gets exactly where I was shot. I feel like I'm going to throw up when Eric suddenly shouts.

'STOP' the doctor jumps back from me. I look at Eric in confusion.

'Eric I have to examine her to treat her' the doctor says helplessly.

'Your hurting her, give her a shot' he growls at him.

' I can take it Eric, I'm good' I say sternly.

'You give her the shot, or you stop' he snarls at the doctor leaning over the table to get in the doctors face.

' a shot won't help her, until I can more accurately assess the damage' he says backing away from Eric.

'well do something else then' he all but shouts at the man, and I can feel his temper beginning to spiral out of control.

'ERIC' I snap harshly 'enough!'

He glowers at me but steps back, he doesn't stop glaring at the doctor though.

'Alex' he says nervously jumping when Eric growls.

'Miss' he tries again.

'I can't tell if the rib is broken or not, you'll need an x-ray. I'll go and set it up now and I'll come back to get you in about 10 minutes' he says quickly before quickly scurrying out of the room.

As soon as he leaves Eric starts to pace growling and muttering under his breath, it starts to annoy me.

'Eric stop it, calm down' I say feeling my own temper rise.

'I am calm, I just want to know why he targeted you?' he growls In exasperation

'It's fine Eric I'm alive and it's good' I snarl back angry the pain affecting me more than I'm willing to admit.

'You have to fight tomorrow!' he shouts at me.

'And I will, I could kill that little shit in my sleep' I shout back.

'you can barely move, and there is no way you guys are set to fight each other, he did it on purpose because he knew that you'd have to fight and this would affect your ranking' Eric says angrily mostly to himself.

'He did it because he thinks I'm a slut!' I practically scream at him the words slipping out before I can stop them my anger controlling my mouth.

Eric stops pacing immediately and turns to me, if I thought the Eric from before was dangerous it was because I hadn't seem this Eric. Rage coloured his features and for the first time I truly saw just how dangerous he could be.

 **i hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please Review! The Reviews inspire me, and thank you for everyone that did last time i loved the feedback. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Just to let you know I've changed this from the original, in this one Eric comes first in his class and Four comes second!**

'What' he says quietly, his voice deadly and it's more intimidating than his loudest shout.

'Nothing Eric let it go' I say back my anger quickly draining when I realise my mistake.

'Explain. Now' his words as blunt as a brute force punch.

'He just made a comment, it was nothing Eric calm down' I say imploringly trying to sit up.

'Stay there' he growls at my efforts 'What comment, I want to know everything don't make me ask again'

'can you just come closer and I'll stop moving' I say pouting if I can hold onto him maybe I can stop him attacking Huck as soon as I tell him.

He stalks over grumpily and stands next to the bed, I can feel his rage pouring of him its potency astounding. I shuffle over a little bit ignoring the pain, he glares at me but I shuffle just a bit more just enough for him to sit next to me.

I look at the bed next to me expectantly, he glowers but I just raise my eyebrow and he sits down. I grab his arm to keep him calm but I know it only sets him even more on edge.

'he called me a whore, and a slut and he said that I slept my way to my rank. Dean and Ryder had my back and I thought we had settled it obviously not' I get it all out quickly adding the last bit on quickly to try and soothe him.

It doesn't work and he tries to get up quickly, I lock onto his arm and keep him on the bed. He stops moving not wanting to jostle me and now I'm glad that I made him sit down.

I can tell he wants to pace, or go and Kill him. But I know one will lead to the other and so I just hold onto him wishing I could help but I can't move, and when i try the pain overwhelms me and I stop.

He looks at me and his features soften ' I thought you were going to stay still' he growls out.

'Look at me' I murmur to him.

He does turning his head but he can't control the anger he feels, and I understand it but I don't want him to get into trouble avenging me. I lay my hand softly against his face and rub his cheek softly.

'You need to let me handle it, I don't want you to get in even more trouble over me' I whisper to him.

'I can't let this stand' a deep rumble from his chest 'But I won't get in trouble' he smirks slightly.

I grimace unhappily 'Do you promise' I ask quietly dropping his gaze.

He pulls me chin up 'I promise' and he drops his mouth to mine ever so briefly, barely skimming my lips and I groan.

'you can't break a promise you know' I whisper as he draws away.

'To you. Never' he whispers back, before sitting up.

I take my hand away from his face and lace my fingers through his, he looks down and I can't read the emotion in his eyes but I know that he likes it when he squeezes my hand back.

The doctor takes that moment to come back into the room, he takes in Eric sitting on the bed looking somewhat more calm and he lets out a relived breath. I would laugh if I wasn't in so much pain as it is all I can manage is a small smile, Eric snorts.

It's only then I realise the other nurse and doctor that my original doctor had obviously brought for back up, and that makes me smile even more. Eric is like a wounded animal when he's angry and I'm not surprised they were scared.

The x-ray doesn't take long, and what with a growly Eric who would just put me wherever the doctor wanted me it was even quicker.

We finally get the news that my ribs aren't broken, but the third rib down had been chipped in two places. The chips have broken off the end and so basically the only effect is that I now have a shorter rib, the downside to this is that the tissue surrounding my ribs is bruised to shit and I'm back to square one.

Eric looks less than pleased about this, but I know he's happy that my ribs aren't broken the same as I am. Finally, the doctor gives us some more of the cream Eric had in his bathroom and a pain relief shot, then with a recommendation of rest which I snort at and Eric glowers at he sends us on our way.

Now that I'm laying down I really don't want to move, I give Eric a look and I think he gets it when he takes off his jacket and wraps it over me before he picks me up to carry's me out grabbing the cream and dressing on his way out.

I giggle when I see the shocked faces of the people we pass, Eric's glares sends them away quickly though. That just makes me giggle harder, then I'm laughing at me laugh.

'That pain shot is really hitting you' Eric grumbles amused.

'I don't feel pain' I mumble through my laughter confused.

Eric just snorts and carries on, it takes me longer than it should to realise we aren't on the way back to the dorms.

'I think I've stayed in the dorms a grand total of twice' I murmur 'no wait I think three times! I exclaim loudly like I've just discovered something amazing.

'Do you want to stay in the dorms' Eric asks from above me as I nuzzle his shoulder sinking into him.

'No your warm, and you smell nice. But it's because I don't want to sleep in the dorms that Huck said what he said' I murmur sleepily.

'Huck's an asshole you can sleep where you want' Eric grumbles clearly mad again.

'Where do you want me to sleep Eric' I mumble my words slightly slurred.

He doesn't answer but a short while later I feel him open the door and carry me to bed, he lays me down softly and then begins to leave but I cling to him tightly I want him with me. He's given me my answer.

'I'm not leaving I'm just getting changed' he murmurs softly.

'I need my jammies too' I whisper softly.

I feel a shirt be tossed onto the bed and I grab it lazily i manage to take the jacket off and get the shirt on, but I can't bend to get my shoes or socks or pants. Even through the pain shot it hurts too much.

Eric grunts before coming over to me, he kneels down and starts to unlace my boots. I sigh softly leaning back into the pillows, he takes off my boots and my socks but doesn't touch my pants.

I look up and see him watching me softly, he has changed into some loose bottoms but hadn't put a shirt on yet. I smile at him and I can't tell whether I'm dreaming or not when he smiles back.

I undo my button and start to try to wiggle them of Eric looks at me and growls before he grabs them and pulls them off.

He goes to get up but I don't let him, I just scoot back and pull him in after me. He seems to hesitate for a second before climbing in next to me.

I lean against his bare chest and I've never felt more at home, never felt safer. I smile and kiss his pec he grunts but brings his arm around me holding me close.

'Eric' I whisper as I feel sleep start to claim me.

'Yea' he grumbles.

'Thank you' I whisper softly.

He doesn't reply but I feel a soft brush against my temple his lips are the last thing I feel before I let sleep take me.

A short while later I'm awoken from sleep by the feeling of Eric getting up. I mumble incoherent things and he shushes me softly.

'Sleep' is all I hear and I grumble moving into his warm spot unhappily as I fall back asleep, knowing he won't go far.

I'm woken again what I can tell is hours later when I feel the bed dip, and warm hands lifting my shirt, as my brain starts to come back to me I realise it's Eric and I sigh rolling over so he can get better access. He growls a little now clearly able to see my underwear and I smirk at the sound.

The smug feeling is short lived however when I feel something wet hitting my side, I open my eyes to look down glaring to see Eric spreading the bruise cream over my ribs.

'The more you do it the quicker It heals' he murmurs before finishing up and rewrapping my side.

I'm awake now and turn my head so I can see him head back into the bathroom, I hear the tap and assume he's washing his hands. Then I hear his soft footsteps as he makes his way back to bed. He slides in quickly and I immediately mould myself to him.

'Where have you been' I murmur softly.

'Nowhere important, let's sleep' he says softly and I can tell he's tired never having heard this voice from him before.

He pulls me over him softly mindful of my side and I curl into him softly listening to his even breaths and his strong heartbeat as it softly lull's me to sleep.

It's morning the next time I wake and surprisingly Eric is still sleeping, it's the first time that's happened and it gives me time to properly study him. His face is almost angelic in his sleep and he's lying flat on his belly his arm stretched around me possessively.

I slip out from under his arm, but it's only when I try to stand up that I realise that the pain in my side is excrutiating. I grab the bed post to stay standing but it's a challenge to be upright.

I slowly hobble out of the room grabbing the cream of the side as I pass, the pain bringing tears to my eyes as I walk but I power on determined. I head to the kitchen and put the kettle on first and then I apply the cream hissing tears leaking as I redress it.

I brush them off putting my game face on before I grab the kettle and find the coffee making one for me and one for Eric. I move even more slowly back to the bedroom determined not to spill any, proud of myself.

Then I put Eric's cup down gently on his table, I start to hobble back to my side when I hear a noise.

'What are you doing' a sleepy Eric asks adorably.

'I made coffee' I whisper back putting my cup down now on my side, before slowly sliding back into the bed.

I rearrange my pillows so I don't have to lay back down, before resting back exhaling slowly I close my eyes briefly before opening them to see a now mad Eric glaring at me.

'Are you trying to make it worse' he asks angrily sitting up.

'I got coffee' I say holding up my cup with a smile ignoring him and taking a sip sighing in bliss.

'You shouldn't be walking around Lexi, how stupid are you!' he practically shouts at me.

'I'm not stupid' I shout back getting angry.

'Then why are you acting like it' he growls running a hand through his hair in frustration.

I sniff hating the tears coming to my eyes, not from pain this time but from frustration.

'I just wanted to do something' I shout back at him and he reels seemingly shocked.

'You do everything for me, I just wanted to do something nice for you' I whimper shocking myself I'm not an emotional person and this sudden flash of emotions is odd.

'Lexi you don't have to do anything for me, I don't do anything I don't want to do' he says leaning over to brush away my tears.

'Just drink your damn Coffee then!' I shout back, and he sits back thoroughly chastised with a little smirk on his face as he takes a sip of his coffee.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before I dare to look at him and when I do I can't help but burst out laughing. He snorts at me like I'm crazy but I see the smile he tries to hide behind his mug.

I can't help but stare at him, his chest is ripped and I want to run my tongue over all the bumps, obviously, I can't in my current condition but the thought still makes me shiver, next I start trying to understand the tattoos they tell a story but I'm not sure what of yet.

'See something you like Lexi' Eric's growl breaks my concentration.

'Indeed, I do' I murmur salaciously.

'You're not well enough to continue down this road Lexi' His growl is darker now to match his eyes.

'Another time then' my voice holds a promise.

'Defiantly' he voice is sure and steel and it makes me grin.

'Explain your tattoo's to me' I say letting my gaze trace them.

'Most of them are leadership tattoo's I have a few personal ones, some of them are marks of an accomplishment' he shrugs them off.

'So some are like awards' I say hesitantly.

'If you want to see it like that' he says warily.

'Which ones' my curiosity gets the best of me.

'Some' he answers vaguely.

'Eric, just show me one' I growl out impatient.

He points to the thin jagged band on his wrist 'This one is for fighting' he says grumpily.

But it's progress, he's sharing with me even if it's only a little bit.

'What kind of fighting, like the kind we do' I say curious.

'About 10 people in Dauntless have this mark and 4 of them are other leaders the 5th being Max, there are different ranks and you move your way up' he point down his wrist then showing the lost of different other layers under that layer.

'So it means you're the best' I grin at him 'Can I get one of the other ones?' I say excited.

He smirks back at me 'You get the top one after you finish your initiation it's a plain one so when your reach the top level they just change your first one so it's at the top not the bottom, the one down from that is coming first in your class' his smirk widens at this.

'You came first' I cock an eyebrow

'Did you expect any less' he grins smugly.

'So, I'll get those if I do well in initiation?' I smile happily.

'You can get a tattoo before that if you want to though' he says drinking more coffee.

'I don't know what I'd get' I say softly thinking it over.

I want something with meaning, but I don't know what yet. Yet I'm still desperate to get one.

'did they hurt' I ask tracing over the one on his neck.

'No' he grumbles closing his eyes.

'What do you think?' I ask curious for his answer.

He gives me a look and I can't help but snort 'What's your last name' I ask laughing.

'Coulter' he says confused.

'I could have Coulter in a big Heart across my face' I say trying to sound serious.

Eric looks at me and snorts and I can't help but think it's the equivalent of his laugh, I smile back.

'I'm serious think about what I should get I have no idea' I tell him sternly.

We relax for a moment with me talking and occasionally laughing and Eric grunting with the occasional snort. It's peaceful until I hear a knock on the door. I look at Eric in confusion, he ignores me and get's up, I'm about to start getting up after him when he turns around and glares.

'Stay there!' he commands and I roll my eyes doing as he says.

I hear murmurs through the wall and I hear Eric raise his voice slightly, he really needs to work on his people skills. Then Eric walks back into the room.

'Max, Four and Paul are here' he growls out.

 **Please Review guys!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

'Erm okay' I say hesitantly.

'They want to talk to you; do you want them to come in here or do you want to go out there' he asks tensely and I can tell he doesn't want them to see me at all.

I think about it, I don't want them in our space it seems like an invasion. Then I blush it's not our space it's his space, oh gosh what am I doing I look up at him and he looks intrigued by my blush.

I groan hanging my hands but deciding quickly, I don't want them in here.

'Can you help me put pants on?' I whisper shout at him, trying to hurry to get up.

'Just stay there' he grumbles going over to the wardrobe, he gets a thick blanket out of the top and holds it up for me.

'Work for you?'

'I can't go and see the dauntless leader without pants on!' I whisper growl at him.

'I'm a leader, and it's not like he's going to know' Eric says exasperated.

'It's not the same thing Eric!' I whisper shout at him.

We have an intense stare of for a minute before I huff and turn away.

'Fine but if he sees my underwear I'm never forgiving you' I growl at him shuffling towards the side of the bed.

'I promise he won't see your underwear Lexi' he snorts coming over to me.

He lays the blanket on the bed before carefully picking me up and placing me in it, then he wraps it round me so carefully before gently picking me up. He gives me a minute to adjust as pain shoots up my side and I can't help but smile at the concern etched on his face.

I lean into his neck inhaling deeply soothing myself before drawing back and placing the gentlest of kisses on his lips 'My gentle giant Eric Coulter' I whisper against his lips smiling at him.

He gives me an odd look before moving to leave the bedroom, he walks softly and holds me tight against him so he doesn't jostle me. As soon as we leave the room I look to the Sofa where Paul is relaxing smugly and Max and Four sit tersely.

Eric Sits me on the Sofa opposite gently putting me down and I try hard not to wince, but Eric can see it on my face. He glares at me and then at the others as if it's their fault that I'm in pain.

'Hey guys' I say cheerfully as Eric sits next to me, I lean on him immediately making myself comfortable.

Four and Max look confused but Paul looks smug, there is concern on all their faces but I'm not sure why they're here.

'Alex how are you feeling' Max asks softly.

'I'm good' I say quickly putting my fake face on, Eric growls from next to me but I glare.

'Can I get you guys a drink' I say hospitality.

All three's eyes bug out and I stifle a giggle, Eric looks amused but he's hiding it well.

'Er no we're okay thank you' Max speaks for him and Four his voice uncertain.

'I'll take a water' Paul grins at me.

I nod thankful for something to do, then I remember the blanket situation and then my ribs and then I look at Eric. It is his apartment.

He growls as I shuffle off him, he glares at Paul who's now openly grinning to a disbelieving Max before making his way to the kitchen to get a bottle of water, he throws it at Paul who catches it still grinning.

Eric sits beside me again letting me nuzzle into his shoulder in thanks as he passes me a bottle too. I smile at him and he glares but I know he doesn't mind.

'So why are you guys here' I say curiously sitting up a little more, taking a drink.

'We're here about the incident yesterday with your fellow initiate Huck' Max says sternly.

Eric immediately tenses beside me and I rub his shoulder absently it draws Max's attention for a minute and he hides a small smile.

'What's happening?' I ask getting down to business.

'Well after Four brought him to me yesterday, we discussed punishment and I know Eric has made his view clear but I wanted your side as well' Max asks softly.

'I don't care what happens to him, but I want a shot against him in the ring' I say decisively.

'About that, as you know you won't be fighting today or tomorrow as it's visiting day. So you have two days recovery, if you apply the cream at least three times a day and rest you should be okay to compete. However when you are ready to come back your rank means that you won't be against him' Max says in an authorities tone.

'Wait I'm not competing' I say shocked looking at Eric who's expression is impassive.

'After Eric practically broke down my door last night at nearly 2am accompanied by all of the transfer initiates who were willing to strike against the fights' I look at Eric shocked but his face gives nothing away and I smile at him anyways.

'That's not necessary I can fight' I say to Max sternly I don't want any special treatment.

'This isn't a favour Alex what happened was unacceptable, if you had been hurt during game play the situation would have been different. But it was an unprovoked attack when the game had finished' Max glares trailing off at Eric's dangerous look.

'Huck has been pushed to the bottom of the rankings, he won't necessarily be cut people have made it to the top from that point before but he gets no special treatment, nothing outside of ordinary training and from what I hear from Lauren he isn't exactly a natural' Four explains quickly.

'The point is retaliation, you cannot retaliate' I open to mouth to interrupt but Max gives me a look and continues.

'I'm sure certain people will find certain ways to exact revenge that don't jeopardise your initiation, but if you take any action against him I'll have no choice to dock your ranking as well' he says seriously looking at a suddenly innocent looking Eric. Paul snorts.

I growl my annoyance 'so I can't even get in the ring with him, like in a fair fight' I get annoyed by the injustice of it all.

'If it happens in your schedule then I cannot stop it, however you cannot seek him out too or your rank will be docked' Four gives me a grin and I return it.

'that sounds…fair' I say innocently.

'Well if we are all in agreement me and Four will be leaving, you have two days Alex use them wisely' Max says seriously and I nod my head obediently.

'Oh and just to let you know, I've heard that this attack was based on a rumour about how exactly you got you rank, and while this is Dauntless everyone also knows that the leaders don't have a say in ranks and that only the trainers do' Max stops and grins.

'And Four's wife has assured me that her husband is still as faithful as ever' he says cheerfully. 'Full dauntless members will know the truth even if jealous initiates do not' he says sombrely before standing up and nodding at Eric before leaving.

'I'll see you back at Training with everyone else in two days time, don't worry you won't missing anything today that you don't already know; and I'm sure Eric will catch you up when your better' Four says with a fleeting smile before leaving after Max probably to start training.

Then it's just us and Paul and I relax letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

'I don't have to fight!' I squeal excitedly to Eric who grins, I go to hug him but my ribs protest and Eric glowers.

'Stop that' he hisses.

'I just wanted to hug you moody' I say grumpily with a humph.

He glares at me and I pout back it goes on until Eric gives in with sigh leaning closer to me so I can wrap my arms around his neck. I giggle and whisper to him 'My gentle giant' softly giving him a rare huge smile.

Knowing that when he left me last night it was so that I could rest while he made sure I would be safe and relatively healthy to fight, hell if it wasn't for the chipped part of my ribs I would have been damn near close to how I started initiation.

The thought makes me grimace as well as the thought of what's to come on visiting day, I doubt my dad will let my mum come and I almost doubt that that's worse than her actually turning up. I don't know if I can bear to see the fear and the pain in her eyes.

I shake myself out of it when I hear Eric talking to Paul, he looks at me strangely when I come out of my sombre mood but I just smile, faking it as usual. He of course see's through this and promises me with his eyes that we will discuss this later.

'Can you guys stop you're nauseating' Paul chimes in randomly now stretched out along the sofa.

'What can I do for you Paul' I snort back at him.

'I just wanted to see if you were okay is all' he says innocently and Eric smirks at him. I suddenly get it.

'Sabby sent you didn't she' I grin.

'Just because she might have mentioned it, doesn't mean that I didn't want to see how you were handling Eric over here as well. It amuses me' he says grinning back.

His grin quickly dies when Eric makes a whipping sound and I burst out laughing.

'Says you' Paul snorts getting up 'I've never seen such a change in a guy' he says to me in a dramatic whisper. That Eric can defiantly hear.

'What do you mean' I ask curious now about how exactly Eric has changed.

Paul looks beside me and his grin quickly dies though Eric is obviously glowering, I give Paul a look that says we will be talking about this as he leaves quickly after that.

Suddenly I feel insecure, being with Eric is easy and fun and all kinds of intense for me. But what if that's only for me, what if I'm just a burden for him and he's bored now and doesn't know how to get rid of me.

He said he didn't do anything he didn't want to do, but what if he feels cornered.

'Would you mind helping me back to the dorms' I ask him quietly.

'Why' he asks and if I'm not mistaken I see some form of pain in his eyes.

'I don't want you to feel like you have to take care of me, I know you said you don't do anything you don't want to do, but I also don't want you to feel trapped with me invading your space 24/7 if you take me back to the dorms you can get some time alone' I say quietly saying it out loud making me feel weaker than I already feel.

'Lexi if I didn't want you here trust me I would have dumped you somewhere else, no one comes in my apartment. That's only the second time Paul's ever been here and the first was to help me put the sofa's in' he says seriously and I can tell he doesn't like the thought of me leaving.

'Okay, can I take a shower then I feel icky' I say with a smile.

He rolls his eyes at my brutal subject change and it makes me smile even more.

'Do you think you can stand up long enough on your own to shower' Eric asks seriously his eyes dark as he takes in my sitting form a smug expression on his face.

Coffee this morning took me 5 minutes and by the time I sat down it was unbearable, however I have had two lots of cream on since then so I'm on the way to being better.

Still it takes a lot longer to shower than 5 minutes and I weigh my options heavily.

'I could bath I don't need to move for that' I say grinning at the thought of that gorgeous claw foot tub.

Eric gives a shrug like he doesn't care before leaving to the bathroom, I hear him turn the taps on and then slam some cupboards looking for something.

'Hey Eric' I shout to him from the sofa.

'Yea' I hear him shout back.

'Can you put some vanilla in the water, I brought some up when I made cookies' I shout back, he doesn't answer me but he does plod back through the lounge into the kitchen where he finds the vanilla before going back to the bathroom.

I inhale deeply as I smell the bath start to fill up and Eric re-enters the room.

'Why vanilla' he asks curious.

'Surprisingly it helps with bruises I don't know how or why but I know it does, it's a family recipe ' I say snarky.

He looks surprised by my willingness to share but other than that doesn't say anything about it. Just picks me up and takes me to the bedroom where I can see the bath is about a quarter of the way full.

'How do you want to do this' he asks and he looks unsure.

 **Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **Enjoy** **J** **Also all the Italian in this chapter I have gotten from google, so if it's wrong then I apologise, I'll write what it's supposed to be in English as well.**

'Can I get this shirt wet'

He nods his assent and I quickly shimmy out of my underwear underneath the shirt, Eric growls and turns around as I place it in the pile on the floor with my other clothes. Then I unwrap my bandage wincing as I throw that on there too.

'Can you lift me in' I ask sweetly

He groans a little and I can't help but grin as he picks me up and very gently eases me into the hot water.

I moan as I sink into it, I haven't had a bath in so long that the feeling is almost euphoric, the shirt clings to my frame and I feel a bit self conscious. But then I push down to the bottom of the bath and it floats up again; and it's not like Eric hasn't seen it all anyways.

As soon as he can tell I'm situated Eric leaves, he leaves the door open and I can hear him banging around in the Kitchen so I don't worry. Once again I'm touched at how caring and Kind he's been to me, and I vow that once I can move again without wanting to die I'll do something to make it up to him.

I sink in the water for a while relaxing, but then the water starts to take on a bit of a chill and I realise I need to get out. I also need to wash my hair. Both problems seem to be hard to tackle and so I focus on the second one first.

The shampoo is all the way over in the shower, which means id have to get out of the bath to get it, which takes care of the first problem. However getting out to get the shampoo I might as well just get in the shower and try to speedily wash my hair before I fall over.

Decision made I grab the taps at the side to try and help me leverage my way out, panting hard I grip them heaving myself upright on my feet in a crouched position. I stand up shakily using the side of the bath as support as I heave myself out and onto the bathmat.

Pain shoots up my body and I pant heavily my vision blurring, my grip on the bath is slippy and I lose it plopping on my bum and jarring my ribs, I hiss painfully. Just as I'm about to try again Eric walks back into the room. Oh great.

'What the hell are you doing!' he asks angrily stomping over to me.

'the bath is getting cold and I need to wash my hair' I mutter angry at having being caught failing.

'And you couldn't have said hey Eric can you pass the shampoo' he mutters disgusted as he pulls the plug out of the bath letting some of the water drain, then he turns the hot tap on letting the water run in.

Finally he goes over to the shower and gets the shampoo and soap, the only two items in there, and brings them back to me. Before lastly picking me up and plopping me slowly back in the now nicely warmed bath.

I glare at him but it only seems to amuse him, as he leans against the doorjam watching me.

'I'm good now' I say picking up the shampoo.

'I don't want to walk in here to see blood everywhere, because you've tried to get out and split your head open, the mess would be awful and I'm really not in the mood to clear it up' he says bluntly.

I stick my tongue out knowing that he cares, as I squeeze some shampoo in my hand before reaching up. Unfortunately I'm stopped when I'm not able to lift my hand higher than my head on my injured side.

I switch hands using one hand to wash and rinse in the bath, when I'm fairly happy with that Job I grab the soap. Then glaring at Eric who reluctantly turns to face the wall I wash myself thoroughly even my bruised side.

When I'm all done I cough politely and Eric turns around and goes back into the bedroom, he grabs a towel of the radiator before coming back to me.

'I can do this bit' I say softly.

'Lexi' he growls the warning and I sigh.

'Just let me get rid of the top and wrap the towel round me. Okay?' I ask sick of being treated like a child, I think he gets it because he scowls at the top and then helps me stand.

Once I'm sure I'm on my feet he turns around and I quickly and painfully get rid of the top, before wrapping the big warm towel around me. I tap his shoulder and he turns back around his eyes smouldering dark and intense, and if I wasn't so beaten up I can tell this would have taken a very different turn.

Instead he lifts me out of the bath and into his arms, before carrying me back into the bedroom. On the bed are a very large shirt and pair of elasticated boxers, I smile at him and he smirks at me.

'Need help changing Lexi' he smirks at me decadence in his tone.

'Only this time Coulter' I growl back.

'I think I like you saying my name like that' he grins coming closer to me.

Keeping the towel wrapped tight around me I hold my arms out in front of me as he gently threads my arms and head through the shirt, he lets if fall loosely covering the towel.

Now I'm covered I let the towel fall as he slowly but carefully puts my feet through the boxers before pulling them up to about mid thigh. I take it from there as he averts his eyes wriggling the rest of the way up.

'Bed or couch'

'Couch' I say definitively wanting to take advantage of the huge Tv and collection of movies I spotted.

He once again lifts me before quickly situating me on the coach opposite the TV I smile and snuggle into the cushions.

'Eric can you pass the duvet please' I say loudly enough so he can hear me in the kitchen cheekily.

He grumbles a bit before going back into the bedroom and bringing the duvet next to me, then he retreats into the kitchen.

I relax on the sofa bringing the duvet around me, Eric soon joins me carrying the ever present cream in his hands. Once the now familiar process of Eric gently lathering my side is complete he goes to wash his hands and returns carrying two big brown bowls.

I glare at them comically confused, he hands one to me and it's then I realise that it's full of pasta a fork sticking out of the top. Being Italian I of course adore pasta and grin at him in thanks before shovelling a huge forkful in.

The sauce is rich and tangy, with some sort of beef and mushrooms dancing throughout it, paired with the perfectly cooked pasta and the liberal grating of parmesan cheese its pure perfection.

'this is Heaven' I sigh in bliss.

Eric grunts his approval and I marvel at his surprising ability to cook.

'I didn't know what you liked, but so far you seem to pretty much eat what I eat' he shrugs noncommittally.

' I'm Italian, pasta is always a good bet' I say smiling around a forkful.

'You speak it?' his question is curious.

'ovviamente' I say quickly. (of course)

I look up to see that his eyes are on fire and he's trying to stifle a shiver. I give a quick laugh, interesting how me speaking Italian seems to turn him on.

'Sei divertente Eric' I purr at him in amusement. (You're funny Eric)

'Those ribs better heal fast little Lexi' his face a picture of a dark and sexy smirk.

Soon enough the pasta is finished and we are relaxing on the sofa under the big duvet, Eric has brought in two big slices of lemon cake that sit on the table uneaten while we debate a film to watch.

Eventually we decide on an action film, but we mostly I end up talking most of the way through it anyway. Eric doesn't seem to mind answering my questions in as few syllables as possible; it's nice though to sit here with him to know that his sole attention is mine.

We dig into the cake as well and I earn another tiny moan from Eric that does crazy things to my insides.

Sometime through the movie I must fall asleep, because then suddenly, I'm waking up my head in Eric's lap his shifting waking me up.

I look up at his face and suddenly I'm stunned by how beautiful it is, the rough angles of his jaw and his slightly crooked nose. But it's his lips I'm most fixated on they look unbelievably soft and suddenly, I'm dying to taste them again, to see if my memory is lying or if it really is as good as I remember.

'Alex' a deep husky voice grits out from above me.

'Eric' I croon back in a sing song voice.

Its then I force my gaze up to his eyes, where the heat is smouldering. I know he wants this as much as I do, and suddenly nothing else matters.

I gently edge to a sitting up position, bringing me face close to his I inch forward until I'm sure he can feel my breath on his lips.

'Eric' I sing softly tauntingly.

It pushes him over the edge and he forces his lips against mine, starting off soft but firm and then dissolving into frenzied. Our tongues come into play getting more and more aggressive, until neither of us are thinking straight it's only when I go to shift closer to him do I wince and reality comes crashing in.

'Lexi stop' Eric's voice is darker than I've ever heard it and it gives me shivers.

I pull back panting heavily, the chemistry between us is explosive and I know when we finally do go further it will be explosive.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before I start to giggle, I can't help it the look on Eric's face is so torn and I'm pretty sure that it's the only time he's ever stopped any kind of sexual incident.

He looks bemused by my antics but doesn't comment instead deciding to shake his head and get up to put on another movie.

The rest of the day is beautiful because of how much isn't done, after the brutal training my body has been forced to endure the rest is appreciated. Of course, it's broken by Eric applying my cream every hour but it's actually quite a pleasant experience.

It's not until dinnertime is approaching that I realise the whole day has flown past, it's also then I realise that Eric hasn't left my side. Doesn't he have duties as a leader?

I banish the question from my mind, it's for another day if he isn't concerned than I shouldn't be. It's nice to spend the day just relaxing but by the end of the day I'm itching to do something, I'm tired but restless.

I think about visiting my friends but banish that thought as well, I don't want them to see me this weak. I look at Eric who's is diligently typing away on his tablet.

'Whatcha doing?' I ask childishly my curiosity getting the better of me.

He turns to me looking amused 'we have a tournament coming up just helping Lauren and max sort out some details' his reply is bored.

'what kind of tournament?' I ask excitedly.

'It's a fighter thing, you can challenge someone to fight and then if you win you can only challenge other winners until you get one person left who's the champion' he explains quickly.

'so who won last year' my voice teasing.

'Four, leaders can't be challenged it's seen as being unfair ' Eric grumbles reluctantly and you can tell it's a sore subject for him.

'So you couldn't compete? That seems unfair'

'It's so that it's not demoralising, leaders already have a lot of power to have a champion leader would be an overdose people could become scared' he grumbles frowning.

'Can leaders challenge people?' my frown conveyed in my tone.

'They can challenge to settle disputes or let of steam, but only right at the beginning of the event and the can't challenge any finalists' he says his face becoming more devious as he says it.

'that sounds fun, what about initiates?' I ask excited at the prospect.

That makes Eric laugh which surprises me, it's way to short though and all too soon he sobers.

'If an initiate has the balls to challenge then I'm sure they could, although initiates can't challenge each other. It's happened a couple of times and each was hilarious. Once some bratty little kid challenged Four saying he'd picked on him during training.' Eric snorts out a chuckle and I can just imagine what happened.

'So in theory I could challenge you' I say grinning at him.

He sobers instantly 'You already challenge me Lexi' he smirks back.

How true that was, I smile back at him yawning.

'Come on let's put some more cream on you and get some food' Eric says standing up.

'Can I come?' I ask quickly desperate to do something.

He doesn't say anything and instead stalks back into the bedroom, he grabs the thick blanket from earlier and then goes back into the kitchen laying it on the side. Then he comes back over to me and picks me up to deposit me on the side.

'What are you going to make?' I ask excited at the prospect of watching him work.

Eric shrugs going to the fridge 'What do you want' he asks passively.

'I can probably cook from here why don't you go sit down and I'll call you when it's done' I say happy with my bout of inspiration.

'Not going to happen, I'll help' he shrugs leaning against the counter.

I smile, thinking that at least it's a small victory he's not saying no outright. I motion to the fridge opposite me and he opens it so I can see in it.

'Have you got any rice?' i ask simply examining the content of the fridge.

He goes over to a cupboard and opens it showing me that he does indeed have the rice I want, with that I set to work getting Eric to bring me ingredients and placing me closer to the cooker.

I slowly start cooking and it's a calming process, the content of Eric kitchen does make me smile though. He seems to eat a lot of Italian food.

'You seem to have a lot of ingredients for Italian food, it's surprising you don't just eat in the pit all the time' I ask genuinely surprised.

'sometimes it's just easier, sometimes I wouldn't finish work till after dinner was done and it didn't really leave me much choice' he shrugs unconcerned.

It makes me sad for him though, it seemed like a lonely way to live. The smells emanating from the food has me travelling back in time to my mamma teaching me how to cook, crooning at me in Italian her eyes full of laughter. Until my father came home at least.

PLEASE REVIEW DESPERATELY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **I apologise for how I left the last chapter it was kind of just a fluffy one to pass the time, I hope you enjoyed it anyway and that you enjoy this one even more.**

 **Just to say that in this fanfiction Alex is 19 and Eric is 24.**

Dinner is mushroom risotto and even I have to admit it's good, its rich and creamy full of garlic and herbs. Eric demolishes it and it makes me laugh.

'Bene?' I ask with a smile (good).

'did you speak it at home a lot? But yea it's very good' he says with a smirk and I'm surprised he understands me.

'parli italiano?' I ask in excitement. (do you speak Italian)

'Not really but I understand most of it?' he shrugs in embarrassment.

'how do you understand it?' I ask excited to be able to share a part of my life with him, it's one I never expected to be able to continue with in dauntless but the realisation that Eric could be that person for me makes me happy in ways I never knew existed.

'I was born Erudite, it was my chosen language my mum spoke it even though she wasn't Italian' he gives as a brief explanation and it all makes sense.

When in Erudite you have to choose a language to learn going through school, mine couldn't be English or Italian as I already spoke those, so I chose French. I could pretty much understand it but I'd need lot's more practice to speak it fluently.

'Ah it all makes sense, mine was French' I say laughing.

He snorts and finishes off his rice, it's a comfortable silence and I'm happy that maybe my heritage is something we can share.

'speaking Italian is something I love though, it reminds me of family really' I say full of sorrow thinking of my mum.

'You can speak it, I'll get what you're saying but I won't always be able to reply' he shrugs the comment of but it means something to me and I can't help but kiss his cheek in thanks.

'So visiting day is tomorrow' Eric abruptly changes the subject, and I can't control the way my face drops. Quick to cover up my internal horror I shrug unconcerned.

'My parents might come, but I doubt it I'd love to see my mother though' I smile at him warmly recalling the memory of her.

'Faction before blood' Eric repeats sombrely.

'La famiglia prima di tutto' (family above all) I say smiling sadly.

Eric looks up then and there is a clear storm raging in his eyes, he blankets it quickly though and I can't help but be curious about what caused it.

I break the moment by letting out a huge yawn, and watch as Eric's eyes darken again as he gets a look at my now healed piercing. I give a quick laugh sticking my tongue out childishly.

'One day we'll put that tongue to good use Lexi' Eric says darkly as he gets up to take our stuff to the kitchen.

It's then that I blush, for all my talk I haven't ever done anything with a boy preferring with my home life occupying more of my time then I'd care to admit. Apart from a casual kiss in truth or dare, when I was younger which compared to what I'm sure is Eric's scandalous history seems rather paltry.

It makes me feel insignificant suddenly and I can't help but feel insecure about how comfortable I've already become with him. Deciding to take the most dauntless approach available to me I decide to discuss it.

Eric returns quickly and soon after yet another round of cream on my rapidly healing side we are both tucked away in bed, taking this as my opportunity I lay on my good side facing Eric who is laying on his back.

'Eric, can we play a game' I ask quietly in the silent room.

He turns positing himself facing me in the dimly lit room, the semi darkness proving some form of protection about what I know is about to happen. Despite this Eric's face is softer than normal, like he's allowed himself to relax finally now we are cocooned in our own little bubble surrounded by covers and silence.

'What Kind of game Lexi' he asks softly sleepily almost.

'Truths, I ask you a question and you ask me one and you have to tell the complete truth' I whisper as his eyes pop open warily.

'I'll start' I say not giving him a chance to protest, and deciding to start off easily.

'How old were you when you had your first kiss' I ask daringly.

Eric snorts as if to say so it's like that is it before answering '14' he grumbles

'16' I say quietly my nervousness making me regret starting this already.

'Why weren't you scared of me when you first met me' Eric says softly even reluctantly.

'You looked fierce but you weren't scary almost defensive, scowling to keep everyone out not because you wanted to hurt them. I've met monsters Eric and no matter what you believe you aren't one' I mumble desperately wanting to stroke his face but scared to brake the moment.

'The things I've done Lexi' Eric says breaking eye contact and rolling onto his back.

'Don't matter' I say fiercely 'you're a good man Eric and it doesn't matter what you've HAD to do nothing is going to change that' I scoot up laying on his chest.

He starts running his hands through my hair stroking it softly, pulling me tighter to his chest.

'Why did you start this game Lexi' Eric murmurs into my hair.

'I just don't know what to expect, I've never done anything before Eric' I mumble nervously.

'Lexi none of that matters, trust me' his voice is deep and soothing.

Funnily enough I do, there is no point worrying about it now anyways. I've decided to be with Eric for wherever he takes me; just to see those glimmeringly short moments where his boyish grin comes out, or his laugh echo's around me unfiltered and pure cocooning me in safety.

I lay against Eric letting his scent, his heartbeat and his breathing surround me. Making me feel safe in a way I've never felt before smiling sleepily against him I finally let myself drift to sleep.

….

The next morning, I awake to a feeling of dread, today is visiting day and I know one way or another it's not going to end well for me.

I immediately notice that Eric isn't next to me and the sheets are cold, so I know he's been up for a while. I roll out of bed and pull my top up automatically to inspect my ribs, they've dulled to mostly dark green with one spot about the size of a golf ball that isn't black.

I shift testing my side and notice it isn't as bad as yesterday, I can walk today with mild discomfort I won't be fighting but at least I can move.

I stumble out of the room to find Eric and the search doesn't take me long, I find him in the lounge furiously typing on his tablet fully dressed and ready for the day absently sipping coffee, his eyes automatically shoot up to me when I wander in though and his angry glare diminishes.

Being the cuddly person, I am in the mornings, and still half asleep I grin at him sleepily and dive onto the chair next to him cuddling into his armpit as he shifts to accommodate me.

'morning' I mumble sleepily. He grunts back and we sit there in a comfortable silence for a while me stealing sips of his coffee and him working tirelessly on his tablet.

Eventually I decide that I need food and get up wobbly, causing Eric to refocus his attention on me and I yawn wincing as I stretch. He pulls me over to him dragging my oversized borrow shirt, and gently lifts it so that he can see my side.

'It looks better, you should be okay to fight' he nods impressed and I see a happy glint in his eye.

'You should put some more cream on now though' he says getting up. His tablet blares to life as he puts it down, messages and notifications going of left right and centre, but he ignores it stalking to the bedroom and coming back with the cream.

He liberally applies it to my ribs his muscles bulging as he uses the surprising gentleness he seems to reserve only for me, I smile at him kissing him softly when he's done.

Before long it's time to leave for breakfast and after a quick shower and yet more cream, I'm ready to go and me and Eric make our way to the food hall for breakfast. Following Eric to the partially empty leaders table, I feel nerves grip my insides as I realise that the excited buzz today is or visiting day.

I can't seem to choke any food down and I think Eric notices, he keeps offering me bites of his sausage muffin with an angry look making me take small but hesitant bites to appease him. He glares still when I don't take any food of my own and just sip my water.

'cosa c'è di sbagliato?' (what's wrong) Eric asks he seems frustrated with me, but his broken Italian brings a huge grin to my face anyway.

'Sono nervoso, non so chi si accenda oggi' (I'm nervous, I don't know who will turn up today) I grumble back my eyes downcast.

'Do you want me to come with you?' Eric says surprisingly softly in my ear, considerate of our audience.

'I'll be okay, I've got to do this. Thank you though' I murmur back to him sweetly placing a kiss on his cheek in goodbye as I stand up to leave watching sabby waving at me grinning as the rest of the initiates start to gather to leave.

I wave to the other leaders as I get up, making a startled Ethan choke on his bagel causing Eric to glare, I would have grinned if panic hadn't been savagely attacking my insides. Four regards me curiously but I shrug him off smiling at max and then making my way down to my friends.

'Long time no see miss Sabby squeals excitedly hugging me.

'How are the ribs gorgeous' Mark asks joining the hug, quickly joined by Jeremy and to my surprise Ryder.

'Healing thankfully, I'll be good to fight' I smile back hoping its reassuring, it seems to work as we laugh and joke on our way to the visitors hall but the closer we get the more panicked I feel, the thought of seeing him makes me feel sick inside. Yet the thought of seeing my mother makes me power on, determined to see if she's there.

The others seem to be vibrating with excitement, the closer we get but I feel like I'm shrinking building myself up to take whatever is on the other side of this door.

Finally, we're hear and before the door opens, Four steps in front of it and a hush falls through the group as we wait for him to speak.

'Initiates you have the day for visiting with your families, but it's important that you remember faction comes before blood. This is your home now, we are your family don't let your emotions cloud your judgement and above all don't forget your loyalty to your new home' Four stops decisively letting his words sink in, and I can't help but search the room for Eric.

When I can't see him my hopes fall, but I remember that I'm strong on my own as well and I was strong long before I met him; even if he helps me now I must remember I can do it on my own.

Suddenly Four moves unlocking to door and pushing it open, we stream in and there are tables everywhere with parents sitting talking to each other in a huge cavernous room with big glass windows illuminating the room in natural light.

Full dauntless members mill around happily and initiates race to find their table that contains their parents. It takes me a minute when I first walk in to spot them, but when I do I nearly turn straight back around again.

Together they sit, at a table near the window in the corner prim and proper. With pristine dark blue clothes, properly pressed and immaculate, they sit stiffly with perfect posture and grace.

My mother and Father.

 **Guys! i wrote this chapter extremely late at night, and so i apologise for any errors my tired brain hasn't spotted. As Always please Review i cannot describe how much your reviews encourage me to write thanks guys! REVIEW!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **Sorry for the wait on this one guys! But I hope you enjoy it please enjoy** **?**

I make my way towards them in a daze my shock at seeing them being overcome by the fact that my mamma is here, and I've missed her desperately.

I sit down across from them and immediately I notice the stiff way my mamma is sitting, as if the very effort it's costing her to breathe is too much. That's when I look at him, and see the maniacal gleam in his eye.

'mamma' I ask softly as if to reassure myself that she's there and she's okay.

'My baby' she says softly back her eyes watering in happiness .

'Are you okay?' I ask not even meeting his gaze, staring into her eyes and hoping that it's not what I think.

'Your mother knows her place Alexandria, she knows to stand beside me' He says back his voice imposing in the space and I see my mother finch at it.

My anger is blinding, and I switch to Italian, speaking rapidly so that my father won't understand his Italian basic and after forbidding my mother to teach me I know he won't be suspecting it. Only one of the well-kept secrets between me and her.

'Why are you with him, what has he done to you!' I screech more passionate in this language then in English.

'I fell in love with him a long time ago baby, and then we had you and I couldn't leave then not without leaving you' she croons softly back begging me to understand.

'you could have taken me with you, we could have been happy just us. Leave him now he's not worth the shit on your shoes' I beg angrily.

'Your father would have killed me if I tried to leave sweetheart, and now it's too late' she whispers a tear leaking from her eye as she grabs my hands, the soft weight of them reassuring.

'STOP' my father declares loudly his eyes dancing between us his gaze murderous.

'you should never have taught her to defy me this way' his voice like a snake, so silky with tightly controlled rage.

I look at my mother then at the way she has gone almost deathly pale, her posture so rigid it looks as though it's painful to maintain.

'Stop it, you think you're so tough because she's scared of you because she's weaker. It makes you pathetic you could never stand up to someone your own size' my eyes grow watery in frustration.

'Like you, you're smaller than her and you used to scream just as sweetly' he whispers silkily.

'I'm stronger now I could crush you, your weak' I say my voice strong and unbending my tears forgotten 'And one day she'll leave you, you'll be all alone with nothing but your disgusting thoughts'

'Haven't you heard figlia' he sneers the last word lacing it with distain. (daughter)

'Bambino it wasn't supposed to be like this' my mother says crying softly, her face beautiful even through the torment she's clearly experiencing.

'Your mother è incinta'(is pregnant) he croons to me laughing 'she'll never leave me, and maybe this daughter will learn to be obedient!' he bares his teeth at me in a snarl.

My whole world stood still, I would be a sister and this monster would have another chance to subjugate a child to make them cry in fear and pain. Watch their mother be beaten mercilessly.

I looked at my mother then saw the fear the helplessness and knew what I had to do I switched to Italian again so the bastard wouldn't understand me and said ' You will wait for me Mamma, and I will fix this for you. I give you my promise, this cycle won't be repeated' she smiles sadly at me as I stand up to walk away, to begin to plan.

I see the disbelief in her gaze and I can't help but say 'La famiglia prima di tutto' she smiles again as she repeats it back to me 'Family above all baby'

Then without another look another word I stand up and leave, refusing to glance back knowing that I'll murder him right here in front of everyone for even one more smarmy comment.

I stalk past other parents and initiates, I see them all in a daze as I make my way towards the door the blood roaring in my ears, and I know he's done this on purpose, so I know the consequences of disobeying.

I want to spar, and I need to do it with Eric to have the desired effect to get rid of this tension I feel humming in my blood.

Stalking towards the mess hall steel in my eyes I head to the leaders table, one though playing in my head _get to Eric_.

I feel people looking at me someone tries to talk to me, but I keep walking. Until I get to the food hall, I immediately look up to the leaders table and as soon as I meet those eyes of steel he's on his feet heading towards me glaring his tray abandoned his conversation abandoned he stalks towards me lethally.

I'm stopped in my tracks, looking into his eyes keeping me grounded giving me the relief I need to hold me over until we can spar, until I can work of this anger, it feels like it takes him an eternity to meet me.

But when he get there the relief is sweet, he doesn't touch me careful to keep his distance.

'What do you need' he growls his eyes travelling my body checking for physical injures.

'training room' I whisper my rage strong but my voice weak.

We depart in silence walking quickly, avoiding everyone until we finally reach the training room. Stripping off my jacket Eric follows suit as we head over to a mat.

'Take it easy Lexi, I'm not going to let you use that side when it's only just started healing' he says his words soft but his voice strong.

'I need this Eric' I say determined gritting my teeth through the stretches.

'We stick to upper body work, no going to the mat and no using your legs. Or we don't do this' Eric says.

I growl in frustration, but I don't really want to injure myself any further and as long as it helps me channel this ceaseless anger then I don't care anymore. Throwing a lazy swing we're off, blocking and dodging our pace fast.

We keep going for what feels like hours, sweat leaks from my every pore my mind completely absorbed on the task of not letting one of Eric's mammoth fists touch me, my arms aching with exertion my legs aching from standing up for so long.

Eventually I can't take it anymore I fall on my bum with a soft plop, bracing my arms on my legs breathing heavily.

'I'm done' I wheeze to Eric.

He plops down in front of me mirroring me although without the same amount of sweat or heavy breathing, instead he has a light sheen of sweat on his forehead his breathing unsteady but not too irregular.

'Feel better?' he asks and I'm overcome with emotion that he's just taken all of this time to spar with me, no questions not stopping until I was ready to stop. It makes me suddenly so emotional.

'Thank you' I whisper back my eyes tearing up, my anger suddenly gone replaced with this sense of utter helplessness.

I look up to see Eric staring at me his eyes angry as he wipes a tear away from my cheek, he pulls me forward and onto his lap so I'm straddling his thighs my back against his knee's as he forces my head onto his neck.

I cling to him gratefully finally letting my tears of frustration and powerlessness flow, wrapping my arms around his neck desperate to pull him closer to me, just to hide here for a while warm and safe.

Eventually my tears die down, and it's just me and Eric his arms tight around me my arms desperately clinging to him.

'My mamma is pregnant' I whisper into his shirt feeling his arms tense around me for a moment in recognition of my words as he says nothing waiting for me to go on.

'One of my first memories is being woken up in the night by a loud noise, I get out of bed and toddle out of my room…' I hesitate then scared to tell Eric this shameful secret.

'I followed the whimpers to the bathroom, she could barely move her back and her ribs were black and blue, blood was over her thighs' I whisper taking a deep breath.

'The worst part is when she saw me, she jumped up as though electrocuted springing up and ushering me back to my room grabbing a robe and smiling at me telling me everything was alright. She made me some warm milk and tucked me into bed stroking my hair until I was convinced everything was alright, and I let myself fall back to sleep safe in my mother's bruised arms' I trail of slowly feeling Eric's body tense and coiled beneath me.

'I have to fix this' I murmur drawing back to look at his eyes.

'It's not your job to fix this' he says quietly his eyes burning in rage, and I realise that he knows who damaged my ribs.

I get off his lap then taking a step back, he doesn't understand but my mum did her best with me and now she'll be stuck all over again with my sibling because I left her there, with him.

'Thank you, I'm okay now' I say seriously avoiding eye contact and going through my options, tomorrow is the first day of fights and so I focus on that instead.

I need to get a shower and put some more cream on to make myself feel more human, and now that I've worked out my aggression I can think clearly again and I realise that for now at least, there is nothing I can do for my mamma.

I'll have to wait until I finish initiation in a month, and then I'll sneak back to erudite and take care of my father.

'Lexi you need to put some more cream on' he says standing up.

We walk out together me following Eric, we walk for ages and I realise we're heading back to the dorms not Eric's place the crushing weight of rejection comes over me, but I force myself to remain silent.

We've been together practically all day every day and if he wants some space I can't be mad at him for that, even if emotionally I'm still raw from my earlier confrontation. Even if all I want is to snuggle up with him in what I've come to think of as our bed.

He stops outside the dorms and I turn to thank him when he interrupts me.

'Get your stuff I'll wait' leans against the wall, typing away on his tablet again.

Tears come to my eyes then, as I realise he's not rejecting me but rather he wants me comfortable and that we're going back to his apartment.

I can't help myself I fling myself at him hugging him tightly one of his hands squished between us still holding his tablet, the other he manages to free bring it round my waits and holding me back.

I draw away slowly reluctant to leave the warmth of his embrace, then before I can change my mind I quickly slip into the dorms grabbing a bag to pack some essentials.

I have a quick chat with some of the other just letting them know I won't be back tonight, and after a few symoathetic glances and numerous hugs one which including sabby whispering in my ear that we're family now I finally leave.

Finding my gentle giant ready for me.

 **Did you love it? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The Next morning is the day of the fights, and after a long sleep cuddled into Eric and then a quick training session this morning, before breakfast I feel ready, my motivation is more than pride or glory but for my very right to stay here to get stronger, so that I can be stronger for my family.

It's now that I'm at breakfast, and today I decided to sit with the other initiates much to Eric's displeasure.

There is a good vibe among us though we're excited, our adrenaline is pumping in anticipation of what's to come.

'I wonder who we'll be fighting against?' Sabby says with a grin.

'I wonder if the dauntless born are included' I say following her line of sight to them sitting further down the table.

'I reckon they will be, it'll probably be one of us vs one of them of similar ability, there is no point pitting the strongest against the weakest it'd be a knockout' Jeremy says shoving another sausage into his mouth.

We all murmur in agreement, and before we know it it's time to go, heading into the training room the anticipation only grows until we're almost bouncing with excitement and anticipation.

Walking in we see the big chalk board has been written on each named paired with another in a list going all the way down to the bottom.

I find my name third fight down, Alex Vs Connor okay I've got this I can take Connor he's like half the size of Eric, taking some deep breaths, I calm myself.

I quickly confer with the other's Sabby is against another dauntless born and Ryder is against Dean, Jeremy and Mark are against other dauntless born as well. It appears we've been evenly paired and everyone looks suddenly grim.

These aren't fights for fun or training but to make a place for ourselves in dauntless, and it seems as though collectively we've just reached the same conclusion.

That some of us will be going home, in just under a week's time.

Before we can properly dwell and let the panic take hold Four walks into the room, looking thoroughly amused by all of us just standing around.

Calling out the first fight, which just happens to be Ryder and Dean the two step into the ring. It's a brutal fight and even though Dean is the winner, he comes out of it looking just as beat up as Ryder both boys look happy however and even give each other a cute man hug before leaving the ring.

Ryder comes over to us with a bruised grin on his face and we immediately greet him with hugs and cheer's even though he lost Dean was a fierce opponent, and it was a slim win. We're all incredibly proud of him and he is obviously proud of the fact he's still conscious.

Soon enough though Four calls the next fight, an erudite girl from one of Ryder's old harem and a dauntless boy who from what I remember was friends with Huck during our conversation on the train.

I find myself rooting for the girl, it's a dirty fight though you can clearly tell the boy is stronger they keep at it though and eventually the girl does win. Her speed allowing her to slip round and knock him out with a blow to the back of the head.

Then it's my turn, everyone cheers and I love the support letting it wash over me and making my way to the ring I see the doors open and Eric walk in; I smile at him grateful that he made my fight, knowing that he had a meeting, Four looks like he's fighting an eye roll.

I give Four a wink that makes him fight a grin instead, then it's just me and Connor.

He gives me a small smile in apology for what's to come and I can't help but return it, both of us saying _I'm sorry that this is how it is but I'm not going to hold back_. We touch hands gently and then We're off.

Connor lunges towards me, looking to take me to the mat but I dodge tripping him on the way and throwing an elbow to his shoulder blades to force him down.

He hits the mat with a bang, but he recovers quickly jumping up and throwing a punch I dodge the body shots, returning them quickly and managing to catch his jaw and his ribs.

He's fast but I'm faster, we dodge each other again and again throwing kicks and punches dodging and diving all too soon though I see a chink in his armour, his feet point where he's about to hit.

Giving away his next move before he's even made It, he still hasn't managed to hit me but I can feel my endurance slipping away and my ribs are squeezing in protest even though they're partially healed.

I decide I need to end this before I tire out too much to maintain this pace, decision made I wait for his next move swinging out to try and grab my jaw I dodge down slipping my fist under his guard, and jumping up throw my whole weight behind my swing.

He falls back to the mat disoriented but not out, jumping on top of him I grab his head yanking him up by his hair before slamming it back into the mat.

He's out cold.

I jump up grinning to the sound of my friends cheering.

Four circles my name on the blackboard and I grin at him, pumping my fists rocky style dancing out of the ring, headed back to my friends.

Dean and another guy come and pick Connor up, and Four splashes some water on his face to rouse him before sending him of to the medical bay. I feel kind of bad then, but he gives me a sheepish grin that reassures me.

Eric decides to make his presence known then, and still on a high from my win I play punch him circling him and giving him light little jabs here and there, singing the eye of the tiger.

Eric lets me dance around him making no move to block or counter any of my punches instead he watches me amusement sparkling in his eyes, until I run out of both words and adrenaline and stop panting in front of him.

'Have fun?' he says bemused.

'Lots' I pant out 'aren't you supposed to be in a meeting' I try to steady my breathing.

'Had to come watch you kick that guy's ass' he says with a tiny grin, reminding me of my victory.

'Not even a scratch' I say wiping imaginary dust off my shoulders grinning.

'fastest knockout I've seen in a while' he grins back, his eyes shining with pride.

'Reckon I could take you?' I ask cheekily with a smirk.

He snorts at me then 'At the end of initiation we'll have to see' he says his eyes heated.

'I'm looking forward to it' I say happily.

'I've got to get back to the meeting, it was only a ten minute recess' he says with a slight frown before bending to press his forehead against mine tenderly.

'You did well' he says softly his hand gripping the back of my hair, face tight to mine.

'Thank you' I say rubbing my nose across his 'Eskimo kisses' I giggle before brushing his lips gently.

He pulls away looking confused but happy, his eyes are full of emotion searing me with affection and heat. Too quickly he turns and leaves, and I'm left with a beaming smile and a quickly gathering crowd of my friends all congratulating me on my win.

The rest of the fights are finished by lunchtime and we are all on a high, everyone but Ryder won their fights and we head to lunch buzzing for the rest of the day off to explore more of Dauntless.

Everyone cheers as our whole group of initiates makes our way into the food hall, and every initiate who looked a bit forlorn perks up immediately.

I decide to sit with Eric at lunch, seeing as I'd be spending my whole afternoon with my friends, Eric grabs me by the hand when I walk into the hall taking the choice from me anyway as he leads me to the leaders table.

A huge tray is already piled high with food when me and Eric sit down and I assume that he grabbed the food before and then came to grab me.

'Congratulations on your win today Alex' Max says as I sit down.

'Thanks' I grin shovelling in some food.

Everyone I talk to congratulates me and Max can't help but tease Eric for calling a recess to watch my fight, especially as he's never called for one before.

'We wondered why he was off so fast, he's never called for a recess before it's usually one of the lieutenants or soldiers, but we all thought it was just so cute our little Eric here is just smitten with you' Max says batting his eyelashes at a glaring Eric.

I distract him by smacking a quick kiss on his cheek and grabbing his hand to pull his muffin closer to my mouth so I can steal a bite. It works when he switches his gaze from Max and Paul to me, giving his muffin then me a glare.

I stick my chocolatey tongue out at him and I can tell he's fighting a grin.

'We're going shopping for something to wear tonight, any tattoo idea's for me yet?' I ask as I see Sabby waving at me.

'What's tonight?' Paul asks now grinning when Sabby notices she's got his attention as well and pretends to talk to Jeremy.

'We're going to out to party to celebrate' I say looking at Eric who's been weirdly silent.

'You're coming right?' I ask slightly concerned.

'I'll meet you there and no, but I'll keep thinking' Eric finally says looking slightly torn.

'What's up?' I say looking at a grinning Paul.

'Eric doesn't go out of the leader's area of the pit very often; drunk dauntless members tend to pick fights with him' Paul says laughing.

'You don't have to come' I murmur concerned.

'I'll meet you there Lexi, your friend is waiting for you' he says with a tiny grin, pointing to Sabby, Mark, Jeremy, and Ryder who are standing near the door. Pointing to their forearms comically motioning to non-existent watches.

'I'll see you later' I grin giving him a peck on the lips before dashing off towards my friends.

We wander round Dauntless the rest of the day dragging the boys into shop after shop in an attempt to find an outfit for later, eventually we find a boutique that I fall in love with all the clothes are classy but also bad ass.

25 minutes later I exit the dressing room to the shock of Sabby, and the boys.

'You like?' I ask with a twirl as the manager of the store gives me a cute grin and a sexy wink, her hair is magenta and awesome.

'You look awesome!' Sabby exclaims loudly hugging me tightly before drawing back with a grin to look at me some more.

The outfit me and the manager decided on does look good, I'm wearing skin-tight black jeans and stiletto heels making my already tall height shoot upwards I'll be at least 6"foot tall now. The top is what really sets it off though.

It's black skin-tight and lace, it cups my boobs but cinches my waist the lace makes the whole thing sexy it's near shear quality revealing but also gorgeous. It looks like underwear it's so risqué but it also makes my boobs look fabulous.

'You look hot' Ryder says grinning at me.

Mark and Jeremy look confused obviously they think I look good but they also see me as a little sister so it's kind of grossing them out.

'You look good Ali' Mark says slowly.

'Really good, we're going to be beating the guys away' Jeremy says with a half grin half grimace.

We all laugh then, before I get changed bagging my new purchases I turn my attention to sabby.

It takes a little longer but eventually we find the perfect outfit for her, a dark green skirt and matching crop top edged in black with some gorgeous black pumps; she looks so gorgeous that Ryder is practically drooling.

It's getting late then so we grab burgers and head back to the dorms, eating quickly, it's really good to be around my friends again but I can't help but miss Eric, the feeling disconcerting after being in his company for so long.

It's as I'm plaiting Sabby's hair tightly in two braids on either side of her head that I broach the Paul question with her.

'So, what's going on with you and Paul' I say grinning as I feel her freeze underneath me.

'Nothing why?' she says a little too defensively.

'Sabby come on it's me' I push.

'Oh gosh he's just so confident and funny, and I'm not a people person I'm a stay in with a good movie and some good company kind of girl. He's the kind of guy that goes out every weekend, comes home at 7am drunk off his face, a trail of broken hearts behind him.' She whimpers dejected, and a little angry.

'I think your being a little bit judgmental, I love you sab but I didn't get that vibe from Paul at all, me and you we're the same kind of girl.' I say softly finishing the first braid.

'He's always out, and I get the feeling he's been around lots of girls, they always giggle at him.' She grumps, and I can hear the sadness in her voice.

'Give him a chance sab, maybe he's always out because he's trying to see you, you can't change his past, but you can give him the opportunity to show that he's not like that anymore' I sigh, sad for her that she might not be able to get past this.

'I've been thinking about it, I want to give it a chance but take it slow you know? He's a lieutenant I don't want to screw up, I might not even make it into dauntless' she says morosely.

'No way are you getting cut, both of us are going to have apartments next to each other while we strut around in our dauntless gear, I can see it sab. Coming home to one of the boys laying on our sofa after cleaning out our fridge' I grin at her.

She can't help but grin back then and our sombre mood is put behind us as we finish getting ready, in the end I wear my hair down and wild curly, clipping half of it back with a dog clip. My makeup is light, but my eyes are smoky and dark, and my lips are pink beige perfection.

Sabby has gone for lighter gold coloured eyes, with a soft peach lipstick it's quietly bold and the guys shower us with compliments when we emerge from the bathroom.

It's going to be a good night.

We walk towards the pit, excitement still thrumming through our veins from the fights, and the build-up of getting ready. Me, sabby and the boys are all laughing and wrestling around as we approach, and It feels good to be back to normal.

Me and Sabby even get a wolf whistle from some younger dauntless members, making us giggle and the boys glare.

We head into the bar grabbing some cocktails and moving deeper into the bar looking for a seat.

My heart however when I turn the corner feels like it's just been put in a blender, the girl from the tattoo parlour sits a little too close to Eric on the same side of a bench and his eyes are not altogether unkind towards her which for Eric is practically happy.

I scowl at them and instead of approaching Eric as I normally would I decide to instead stay with my friends for a while and hope that Eric will come find me soon, he hasn't given me a reason to doubt him yet, we move to a booth and sit down and I soon become moderately distracted although I can't help but take glances at the still talking Eric and Cindy.

Eventually I get bored of watching them, Eric let her touch his arm while she curled her hair? Could you get anymore obvious? A cold kind of anger creeps over me but I ignore it, tonight is about enjoying myself with my friends.

As the night drags on and Eric still hasn't made a move to find me my excitement quickly dies from my earlier win, I feel sad inside cold almost like I'm all alone, I'm drawn from my misery however when Paul approaches the table smiling brightly at me.

'hey there mighty Lexi' he grins at me sitting down his eyebrows shooting to his hairline when he sees my outfit.

'hey Paul' I smile back more strongly now, I like Paul he's been good to me.

'You look gorgeous? Where's Eric' he looks around confused until his eyes find him and Cindy in a booth.

'ahh I wonder what they're talking about' he actually looks genuinely confused and I can't help but smile at his face. Boys.

'Probably really intelligent stuff' I murmur into my drink sarcastically.

'it's odd Eric never normally talks to them after' Paul mutters confused turning back to me, his attention quickly being taken by sabby as she comes back from the bar with fresh drinks Ryder's arm draped around her.

With a sudden clarity, I realise what he means, and it makes me feel sick, the thought of him spending the evening verbally reliving his relationship with her makes me feel ill the, thought of them kissing and touching, physically sick.

I can't sit there any more suddenly I feel claustrophobic, I stumble to my feet clumsily.

'Let's dance!' I grab Sabby and Ryder and pull them with me to the dance floor, I love to dance the music seeps into my bones and I forget everything else, we all dance together, and I can honestly say it's the most fun I've had in a long time.

Paul busts out some crazy moves that have me and Sabby nearly keeling over in laughter, Mark dances like a fish out of water his arms and legs swinging wildly, and we have to avoid being smacked as he moves around.

At one point we even get really close to the Dj, Paul puts Sabby on his shoulders and Ryder puts me on his as we giggle and Dance, the cocktails are flowing the music is awesome and I'm surrounded by good people.

It's a long time later that I feel the exhaustion from the day overtake me, me and Sabby are both bleary eyed and together we decide to head home.

'if you see Eric tell him I'll see him later, we're going to head home' I mutter to Paul in an attempt to make a hasty retreat, my feet sore from the new heels and the hours and hours of dancing.

I'm stopped by a hard chest however when I go to turn around and I realise that Eric is standing right there a smiling Cindy behind him.

 **What do you think?!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

'I'm right here, what's wrong Lexi' his eyes are dark and demanding as they scan my body heatedly, unfortunately I'm in no mood to ruin my night.

Ignoring him me and Sabby make quick and hurried goodbyes and congratulations to and from all my friends, I quickly dart around Eric and Cindy and head towards the dorms.

I'm grabbed from behind about halfway across the pit however by a seething Eric

'Lexi what the hell' he says angrily unaware of the looks we're getting.

I look at Sabby in desperation, willing her to drag me away. Unfortunately, she doesn't, thankfully Paul turns up and whispers something to her, she nods and gives me a small smile before letting Paul lead her over to a small table to wait for me.

'What?' I hiss at Eric angrily.

'You ignore me all night, and now your leaving without a word?' he says back angry and obviously confused.

'Look Eric I'm tired I've had a good night I don't want to ruin it by arguing with you, I just want to go home and get some sleep I have to be up in like 4 hours' I groan looking at my watch.

'Fine let's go' he says grabbing my arm again.

I stop short.

'I'm not going back to your apartment Eric' I growl at him.

'Why the hell not?' he splutters.

'Because I don't want to talk to you right now, you were supposed to meet me tonight and instead you spent the night with your ex girlfriend ignoring me, well now I don't want to talk to you I want to go home and sleep' I mutter angry that he'd assume I was staying with him.

'it wasn't like that when I got there you weren't there yet so I went to get a drink, then Cindy came up and starting talking about different tattoo idea's and what I could get added. You weren't there yet so I figured what's the harm' he shrugs looking at me like he can't believe I'd be annoyed about that.

'and when I got there?' I say angry now.

'Cindy said she'd keep a watch out as she was showing me some designs, I lost track of time until I saw you stumble past' he says gritting his teeth as he studies my heels.

'You knew I was going to be there, you knew it'd been too long for me to not have shown up the whole night has passed. Imagine I spent the night sitting in a cosy corner talking to a guy I'd slept with' I shout at him.

'It wasn't like that Lexi' he growls back lowly.

'Imagine I spent the whole night talking to someone who's kissed me, who's seen me naked, imagine…' I start to hiss at him when he stops me his eyes are black in anger.

'Enough' he shouts.

'No, you enough! I'd never do you that public disrespect Eric, you made me look like a fool. Now I'm going home and you're going to let me' I hiss angrily at him, mortified to find tears gathering in my eyes as I yank my hand away and stalk towards Sabby and Paul.

Sabby stands immediately grabbing my hand in hers she kisses Paul's cheek surprising him as we both give him a quick hug, before quickly making our way back to the dorms.

Everyone is either asleep or still out so me and sabby both get a quick shower to wash away the smoke of the club and the makeup, before falling into bed exhausted. My bed is cold and uncomfortable, and I can hear other people's breathing around me.

I miss Eric desperately, but I know for tonight at least this is where I have to be.

Even if it sucks. Even if I miss cuddling into his big warm body, in his big warm bed.

Tonight, I'll sleep here, because it would hurt too much to lay next to him. Knowing he didn't think about me all night, and even though I know It was a mistake, I know that he cares about me he's shown me a thousand times.

It still sucks.

The night drags and my sleep is restless and disturbed, finally I decide to get up I can't lay here anymore even though I am tired.

I drag clothes on and quickly throw my hair in a messy bun before grabbing my shoes and a jacket and creeping out, some people are starting to surface for showers and to get ready and the boys who only got in around an hour ago, are all dead to the world.

I wake Ryder before I leave urging him to get the others up, we have training soon and they need to shower off the alcohol that I can smell leaking off them.

He agrees with a groan rolling to his back, and I take that as my cue to leave looking at a sleeping sabby mournfully, not having the heart to wake her up after such little sleep. But wanting the comfort she'll provide.

Making my way to the food hall dauntless feels particularly loud today and I'm not sure if it's my hangover or if people are going out of their way to shout. I quickly gather some food and a cup of tea, avoiding looking at the leaders table.

After what feels like miles I finally get to my table, a couple of the dauntless born are already there and I quickly sit down in our usual spot.

Dean quickly scoots up to me though causing Tyler and Connor to follow him.

'How's it going Ali?' he says around a mouthful of food.

'How are you guys all up and chirpy?' I grumble into my tea.

'Dauntless trick, you don't go to bed instead you inhale a litre of water take a shower and go for a run. Works pretty well but by the end of the day you definitely feel the night before, right now we're still a little buzzed.' He grins at me, and it's then I see the slight dazed look to his eyes, not obvious unless I was looking for it.

'I'll have to remember that, I'm sure that I'll be super tired later anyway. Last night was worth it, you looked like you were having fun with one of our fellow initiates' I say giving him a grin and wiggling my eyebrows.

I remember seeing him making out with one of Ryder's old harem last night, when we were grabbing fresh drinks from the bar. Me and Sabby had giggled and pointed them out to Ryder, who just shrugged unconcerned.

'I believe her name was Anna, and she was quite lovely if I do say so myself' he grins back unrepentant.

Both Tyler and Connor roll their eyes at him and start ribbing him mercilessly when Anna walks in with a few friends, I however can't help but be ecstatic that Sabby and the boys are trailing behind them.

They plop in front of me with groans, looking about as rough as I feel.

'I was letting you sleep' I murmur to Sabby letting her share my tea while the boys quickly decide to go and get food, taking Sabby's order and rushing off.

'Ryder woke me, he didn't realise we'd showered last night and wanted to make sure I didn't oversleep' she grumbles hogging the tea.

'I mean it'd be sweet if it didn't cost you sleep' I mutter sarcastically.

'Onto interesting gossip guess what Dean did last night' I snicker when I hear his answering groan, and the responding chuckles of his friends.

'You were above average if that makes you feel better Dean' Anna chirps in with a smile as she walks past tray in hand.

'You let me know when you want a repeat performance' Dean grins at her, eyeing her body generously his chest slightly puffed up at her compliment.

'I may take you up on that' she says eye-fucking him slowly before wandering to the other end of the table.

'I like her' I smile at a dazed Dean.

'I'm thinking so do I' he smiles back regaining his equilibrium.

Everyone starts laughing then, and I find it way funnier than it should be tears leaking from my eyes as my body shakes.

Suddenly everyone's laughter stops and its when I hear someone sit down that I realise why, Eric is now sitting across from me two cups in his hand, and a scary growl on his face.

He pushes a cup towards me and I can see Sabby's eyes shooting to me anxiously.

I debate for a second before picking up the cup and taking a sip, _ahhhh bliss_ sweet velvety hot chocolate greets my tongue and slips down my throat.

I see Eric watching me seriously 'Martha said you'd like it' he grumbles lifting his own cup of what I'm betting is coffee.

'Thanks' I breathe between sips.

Looking around the table to see Dean still being teased about Anna, Sabby avoiding questions from Ryder about Paul who Is grinning at her from the leaders table; and Mark and Jeremy trying to pay attention to them but failing miserably as they keep trying not to fall asleep, and everyone is trying and failing to look like they aren't ease dropping on me and Eric.

'Lexi, I don't want you to be upset' he growls shifting to lean closer to me across the table.

'Maybe you shouldn't have upset me then' I scowl back coldly.

'How do I fix this?' he snarls impatient and angry.

'I don't know Eric' I sigh dropping my gaze from his to my hot chocolate.

'I don't like sleeping without you Lexi' his soft confession melts my heart.

'Neither do I, but what you did wasn't right, and it hurt me' I state softly trying to just be honest.

Looking at the clock I realise that I have to go.

'I have to get to training' I stand to leave grabbing my tray.

'I'll find you later, we have a mission briefing this morning' Eric grumbles before grabbing my tray and stalking off towards Paul.

I watch him nervous sad that I can't seem to fix this gap between us, I don't like not being with him either.

I stalk to training determined to put all negative thoughts out of my head, today I need to focus on training to keep my place in dauntless.

Training is brutal and Four pushes us to our limits, some of the moves he shows us are a bit tricky but by the end I'm feeling pretty confident.

Unsurprisingly there is no Eric today, but I expected that with his mission briefing, what does surprise me is that he isn't at lunch; and looking at the leaders table I can tell a few leaders are missing. Their mission briefing must have run over.

Making a snap decision I run to Martha to grab supplies before making my way to where I think I remember Eric's office is, it takes me a few tries but I eventually find the right door.

Knocking I wait for his 'Enter' before I steal into the room.

He's sitting in his chair looking down at his desk, his forehead is creased in agitation as Max stands behind him pointing to places on the map in front of him; adding comments or suggestions as he moves around.

Both look up when I come in and while Max gives me a big grin, Eric looks confused like he isn't sure why I'm there although hopeful that I'm there to see him.

'I didn't mean to interrupt you guys, It's just lunch is nearly finished and you have to eat' I say looking at Eric and trying not to blush at Max who's grin grows impossibly wider.

This just makes Eric's forehead crease more although he does look down at my hands now in intrigue.

'I didn't realise that was the time, I'll just run down to the food hall to grab something we'll reconvene with the others in half an hour Eric. Lovely to see you as always Alex' Max say grinning as he strolls out hands in his pockets, whistling in obvious mirth.

Eric still hasn't said anything and I'm getting kind of nervous, he's just staring at the packages in my hand forehead creased and eyes dark.

'Erm I brought a spicy grilled chicken burger, with some coleslaw and some curly fries, oh and I also got some of this really nice garlic dip and some cake and some apple pie for pudding.' I say placing all the items on his desk as I find them in my bag.

'oh, oh and I got some really juicy fresh watermelon and a bottle of both water and juice, Martha let me try some and it was gorgeous' I say anxiously folding up the canvas bag I'd used to haul my loot up to his office.

'Lexi I thought you were mad at me' Eric growls and it's then I realise he's slightly angry at me for reasons obviously unknown.

'I am still mad at you, it doesn't mean I don't care about you or that you don't still need to eat' I huff back at him, wishing for somewhere to sit down and realising there is still no chair.

Eric obviously still doesn't want visitors.

'Look I'm just going to go I just figured you needed to eat something' I say turning from his desk angrily.

'It's not fair Lexi, you can't show me how good it can be with us, caring if I eat? Just to take it away' he growls circling the desk to stand in front of me, his eyes are tortured, and they feel like they're scolding me.

'I'm not taking anything away Eric, I'm not breaking up with you I'm angry right now, but I wouldn't leave you' I say softly cupping his face.

His look breaks my heart, it's obvious that he's never been in a situation like this before and is terrified that I'll leave him, he's also terrified of admitting this to me. But his actions speak louder than his words and I know that he's sorry.

Just in case I didn't though Eric takes that moment to lean into my hand further his face so close I can smell his aftershave, feel his warm breath.

'I'm sorry Lexi, I'd never hurt you on purpose I didn't realise the time I was trying to probe for tattoo ideas for you. I don't even like Cindy, but she does good ink for girls' he whispers softly.

'People you've slept with aren't the kind of people you should be spending the whole night with, how would you feel if the situation was reversed' I mumble to taking my hand away to lean my head on his chest, his arms come around me tightly holding me to him.

'I understand Lexi it won't happen again' he breathes into my hair.

It's odd but from Eric it's a vow and I know he genuinely regrets what he did, enough that he's apologised, and I can tell he means it. Cindy is a whole other matter, but hopefully she'll see me with Eric even more and realise that we are serious and leave the both of us alone.

Unless she has some cool tattoo idea's then I'm happy if she wants the spend the whole night discussing them with me, the thought of her and Eric talking doesn't fill me with joy but maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick and it's a huge misunderstanding.

 **What did you think? Hope you liked it, please Review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

'I need to get to training' I mutter into Eric chest, making no move to leave.

'Do you now' he murmurs into my hair, and I can hear the grin in his voice.

'And you need to get a chair in here Max had to stand behind you' I mumble smiling now as I draw away.

'Why don't you come and help me pick one from storage later' his eyes are smiling at me even as the tiniest grin comes over his face.

'Ohh storage sounds intriguing, I can't wait' I grin back my smile so big it hurts but I'm just so happy that we could talk this out.

Eric loses his grin his eyes getting heated and dark as he stalks towards me, all too soon his lips are covering mine, his kiss so hard and desperate that I can't help but feel his frustration.

I can feel all the emotions he's trying so hard to keep buried, how upset he was to think I was leaving him, his utter determination to win back my affection and keep it this time.

I lose myself to him and the intensity of his mouth, he grabs my thighs and I eagerly wrap them around his waist letting him hold me up effortlessly, his hands explore me, desperately squeezing and pulling me closer as I grab and claw whatever parts of him I can reach.

Pulling his hair I desperately try to get even closer moulding myself to his torso, I feel him respond in kind slamming me onto his desk right over the huge map just missing the food.

His lips trail my neck biting nipping sucking his way down to my breasts his stubble is scratchy, and it just heightens the sensation.

Then…the door bangs open.

'Eric have you and Max figured out…' Four trails off awkwardly stopping dead, Paul and another guy bump into his back their conversation trailing off as they take in the scene that me and Eric make.

I can't help but squeal pushing Eric off me as I scramble to sit up, Eric quickly stands up but doesn't turn towards them instead barking an angry 'OUT!' as Four and the other scramble to get out of the room it's nearly comical how fast the door bangs shut behind them.

'oh my gosh that's so embarrassing' I stammer out blushing to the roots of my hair.

Eric looks furious 'They know better than to come in without knocking, next time we lock the door' he growls up glaring at the door with murderous intentions.

'NEXT TIME, they just saw us bloody… oh my gosh' I can't even finish my sentence my mortification petrifying.

'Yes next time Lexi, I have many plans for how to christen my desk' his smirk is full blown now and it takes the edge off my horror.

'The nerve of you' I say laughingly.

'I have to get back to training anyway, I'll see you later?' I ask smiling my cheeks still flushed with a blush.

'It's a date we'll find you a chair' he says softly as he readjusts his clothing.

I give him a grin before slipping out of his office and making my way back to training. We have more fights tomorrow and I'm excited to get some extra practice in on the moves I've learnt today.

The rest of the day passes incredibly slowly, I can't help but flash back to that moment in Eric's office earlier today, how I didn't feel any hesitation I just went with my gut instinct and it was good. It was just me and Eric in the moment and he made me feel like it was safe to explore.

It was good, I feel like I'm a kid and it's my first time trying chocolate. I can't wait until I can have more.

By the time lunch rolls around though I'm nervous, it wasn't just me and Eric in that room and the thought of facing the others makes me stomach roll in anxiety.

Deciding to be a chicken and sit with my friends at dinner I keep my head down, hiding in the crowd of initiates I head to get some food. Seeing some delicious looking chocolate cake I'm just about to grab a piece when I'm yanked back into a strong chest, and with a smirk from sabby who was next to me and who I'd told the reason for my skittishness I'm escorted to the leaders table.

Blushing even as I sit down I look at the tray Eric's piled for us and mourn the fact there is no chocolate cake. Grabbing some lamb looking hotpot I dig in ravenously avoiding the looks four and Paul keep sending me.

'One second Lexi' Eric mumbles as he lopes away from the table in easy strides in the direction of the bathroom.

'Soooo Alex have a good lunch?' Paul smirks at me and I can see him fighting a laugh.

'Lovely thanks' I mumble looking at my food, trying to ignore the fact that Four can't meet my eyes an ever so slight flush on his cheek bones as, what I'm assuming is his wife whispers in his ear.

Thankfully after a few more painfully awkward moments Eric comes back sliding in his seat and he's bringing gifts, he tries to subtly place a huge piece of cake in front of me but the whipping sound from Paul and the snort from Max, let's me know he wasn't successful.

I give him a big squeezing hug round his waist, trying to show him how much his paying attention to what I like means to me. I'm forced to leave sooner than I'd like as I can feel Eric straining to reach his roll around me.

With an eye roll I let go, trying to focus on my new piece of cake.

However, Eric is sitting close to me, so close I can feel the heat of him through his jean clad leg the brush of his arm as he reaches for food or takes a bite.

Every brush of skin against skin is setting me on fire slowly and I'm not sure he even realises he's doing it, heat starts to pool in my abdomen and it feels like there are swarms of butterflies in my stomach.

'Eric' I whisper to him confused with these new feelings, almost like I'm itchy for something.

He stops eating then and looks at me, obviously he see's something in my eyes that means something to him because his eyes go molten.

'I promised you a chair Lexi' he growls out through a clenched jaw.

'Lets do it quickly' I say in Italian watching as his eyes get impossibly darker.

We rise quickly after that me with me stuffing the rest of my decadent cake in, and with Eric getting rid of our tray. Then with quick but mortified goodbyes from me to the others, who are all grinning at me and Eric, likely because Paul has been gossiping, we leave.

Eric sets a brisk pace on what I'm guessing is the route to the storage area, we take twist after turn going down and down more and more stairs until we come to lift. Eric scans the index before pushing a button and scanning his ID then we clamber in.

There is a tense atmosphere between us, a thick heady thing that wraps around us so that I can feel the distance between us acutely. I completely forget about it however when the elevator door opens into a huge warehouse, there are sofa's and chairs and dining tables everywhere.

There is more furniture than the eye can see, and I'm completely flabbergasted that something like this could even exist. Eric however seems unfazed almost agitated to be here.

'Pick something you like' he all but growls and I can tell he hasn't forgotten our earlier moment of heat.

Wandering around the dimly lit path trying to find a chair, I can feel Eric's eyes watching my every move. Trying to ignore the feeling that inspires I focus on my chair hunt.

It's about 20 minutes later when I see it, a flash of colour buried under a huge oak table. Conscious of my still healing ribs I ask Eric to help my pull it out.

Almost instantly I decide I want it, it's a dark emerald green armchair and it looks soft and plush. We put it upright and I sink into it, its comforting in a way I never expected. I look at Eric in question.

'It suits you' he says, and his eyes are soft and warm when he looks at me.

'It's for your office shouldn't it suit you?' I taunt.

'It'll be your chair in my office Lexi' he smirks as I get up, so he can hoist it over his shoulder.

'It's supposed to be a chair for visitors Eric' I laugh silently wondering at his strength, all those achy feelings springing back into life as I watch the muscles in his back work. The only thing that would be better was if he was topless.

'Visitors can borrow your chair Lexi; now can we go home?' he mockingly says 'visitors' oblivious to my perusal.

Putting the Chair on a special platform at the front he grabs a label from the big pile, scrawling something on it he presses a few buttons on his tablet and then we head back to the lift.

'Is that it?' I nod at the chair.

'I set it up to be delivered to my office by tomorrow, do you need to hit the dorms, or can we go home?' he asks as he keys in the lift.

'We can go back to yours I have some spare clothes in the bag I brought yesterday' I mumble distracted looking at his muscles coil in fascination.

Eric catches me, and his eyes get hungry, his face changes rekindling the mood that had been tampered earlier.

'Let's go home' he emphasizes grabbing my hand, and like that were off on our way **_home._**

We rush to Eric's apartment like teenagers and I can't help my secret smile as Eric whisks me through the halls.

As soon as we lock the door behind us time seems to stop though, Eric turns to me questions in his eyes that I don't really know how to answer. I walk to him slowly threading my arms around his neck nervously, the contact helps, and I smile at Eric hesitantly.

'Lexi we don't have to do this' Eric murmurs softly an inch away from my lips.

'Can we start slow, I don't think I'm ready for everything' I whisper back nervous.

'we'll take it at your pace' he whispers just as I close my lips over his.

Quickly stealing my kiss Eric takes control, fire floods through me as that same desperate feeling to get close to him resurfaces. Gripping his hair tightly I haul myself closer, this seems to send Eric frenzied as he picks me up and carries me to our bed.

Throwing me onto the covers his body covers mine a second later, all searing heat and muscle and man. We grab at each other our tongues duelling and somehow both of our tops come off, the skin to skin contact just amplifies everything and when Eric grabs my bum and pulls it against him tightly I can't help but gasp into his mouth.

Eric doesn't move but doesn't pull away, slowly he raises his head his gaze asks me if this is okay? I move against him in an exploratory way, and I can't help but gasp again at the feeling it creates. Eric dives back in his mouth bruising mine, his hips twisting against me until I'm straining gasping for something just out of my reach.

'Eric…' I gasp breathless desperate.

'Let me touch you Lexi' he breathes back his voice husky and strained.

I nod hurriedly moving harder against him, straining up for his mouth. Kissing me back desperately Eric snakes his hand between us and down the waistband of my leggings, I'm not sure what he's doing but it feels sensational.

All too soon though it gets too much the feeling is too intense and I don't think I can take it anymore.

'Eric!'

'Let go baby just let go' he breathes into my ear.

A minute later and I shatter for him gasping his name, when I finally come down he's staring at me his eyes burning his breathing heavy.

Reaching up I rub hesitantly and am almost instantly rewarded with a delectable groan, pushing slightly onto his shoulder he rolls to his side.

'I don't know what to do' I whisper shyly.

'That's good, it'd be better if you undid my jeans' he groans as my hand moves.

Slowly I unzip his jeans and slip my hand inside, he's smooth and hard and his groans is like ambrosia. This is something heady and powerful about making this man groan for me.

With a few grunted directions from a groaning Eric I manage to figure it out, and before long Eric groans his release breathlessly into my mouth.

Panting we roll away from each other, laying side by side on our backs. For my first sexual experience I must say I feel amazing, my legs feel like jelly, and I'm all relaxed and happy. There's something so intimate about getting to know another person the way me and Eric are beginning to, and I can't help but love it.

I quickly get up to wash my hands as Eric strips to his boxers, deciding to do the same I get rid of my leggings climbing back into bed in my underwear and cuddling up to Eric my head on his chest.

'You okay?' Eric murmurs sleepily stroking his hand up and down my back.

'I'm perfect' I reply on a yawn as I snuggle closer.

The last thing I feel before I drift of to sleep is Eric grabbing the covers to pull over us, his hand moving softly soothing my spine.

 **Please Review this was a total labour of love! I'd love to hear what you think and if you have any idea's or questions.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **I don't know what happened with the other chapter, but here it is again as it should be. Please review guys!**

It's morning and I feel an odd sense of calm wash over me, I know it's early because Eric is still asleep and I can feel his deep breathing under my head I feel an unexpected happiness at the thought of getting to wake him up.

I'm laying half on top on him and stretched as I am under my hands is nothing but smooth hard male skin, really it would be almost too much for anyone to resist, I tell myself as I slide so that I'm sitting fully on top of him.

I feel him stir slightly but he doesn't wake up, I start kissing his neck softly whispering things in Italian that I'd be too scared to say in English. About how much I want him, and how he makes me feel. Urging him to wake up.

I feel his hands come up to grab my hips and I raise my head to look at him, he's giving me one of those rare boyish grins that I can't help but return. With his mussed-up hair and bulging muscles I'm powerless to resist dipping down to taste his lips.

The energy surrounding us is different to yesterday's it's a softer kiss, but somehow its even more passionate like we're pouring our souls into it. Eric rolls me, and I cradle him in my legs, melting around him.

As we kiss our bodies grow more entwined, our hands move over each other in a frenzy and before I know it my underwear is gone and so is Eric's. We grind against each other lost to the sensations, before Eric rolls me on top of him again.

I cling to him as he grabs my hips and breaks the kiss, I'm just about to moan in protest when he lifts me up and puts my knees on his shoulders positioning me over his face.

I flush half in embarrassment and half in arousal, but fortunately I don't have time to analyse my shyness as Eric digs in, his mouth demolishes me but it's not furious and frenzied it's soft and tantalising.

He goes about his task with a sensual slowness that staggers me, I'm left screeching at him in broken Italian as I shift and moan against his mouth desperately. Eventually my end comes for me and I convulse over him moaning and whimpering.

When the last of my aftershocks have left me Eric drags me down his body so I'm draped over him, his eyes are warm and happy as he pets my hair running his hand up and down my back.

'I love how you can't seem to stick to a language when you come' he murmurs with a distinct edge of amusement.

I can't help but get embarrassed then, I'm obviously not the first girl Eric has slept with and what if how I acted was weird or wrong. I have no frame of reference, and although Eric hasn't said anything bad I feel slightly uneasy wondering how I measure up.

'and you like that?' I ask curiously.

'it's the hottest thing I've ever heard' he says honestly his eyes shocking in their intensity.

And just like that my self confidence triples, I give him a sexy little grin before sitting up suddenly reenergised.

'And now for you Mr Coulter' I grin giving a little wiggle, making him let out the most delicious moan.

'You don't have to do that Lexi' he groans out between a clenched jaw.

'I want to do this' I say with a twist of my hips.

We wriggle around until Eric is once again on top of me, he's pressed right up against me and every time he thrust I get the most amazing friction he never goes close to my opening, but right now he doesn't need to.

We work against each other until Eric is panting and I'm almost pleading for him to go faster, we're covered in a fine layer of sweat already and as soon as Eric speeds up I know I'm finished. I go over the edge with a short and brutal cry and Eric follows minutes later.

Eric collapses on top of me careful to support his weight so I don't get crushed, we lay there in silence the only sound our harsh breathing in the otherwise silent room. Sooner then I'd like Eric rolls onto his back pulling me into his side carefully.

'I never knew waking up could be so fun' I pant out.

It's my turn to turn to mush all over again when Eric lets out a masculine chuckle of pure satisfaction, his eyes alight with wicked humour.

'Me either Lexi, me either' he grins as he picks me up to carry me to the shower.

….

It's sometime later and after a quick breakfast me and Eric are in the training room sparring in a furious warm up while we wait for the others to get here.

I'm straddling him after managing to take him to the mat, although I rather suspect he let himself be 'taken' by me. He's grinning up at me making no move to get out of my 'hold'.

'I see training is going well' an amused voice says from behind me.

I jump off a still grinning Eric and turn to Four telling myself that there is no reason to be embarrassed, we were just sparring.

'Great actually' I say with a weak smile.

'Her technique has greatly improved' Eric smirks sneaking up behind me.

 _I will murder him_ I think with an evil glare at him which he returns with an even more pronounced smirk.

'I'll see you at the tournament later' Four smiles smirking at Eric.

Eric gives him a glare before turning to me with a slightly softer expression.

'Later lexi' he gives me a brush of his nose against mine before turning and striding away.

Training is a new kind of brutal, Four pushes us to our limits making us run drills and sparring with a few people one on one to find out things they need to improve on. Altogether the morning is hard.

Four announces that the people he didn't get round to sparring with this morning he'll spar with this afternoon, before dismissing us all for lunch. Weirdly nervous but also oddly excited, we head to lunch in a gaggle of energy.

It's as were eating that I realise the enormity of the tournament that's going to take place later on, the whole hall is louder today and there are taunts, left right and centre.

I sit with my friends at lunch, glaring at Eric when he gets up as if to come over to us. He looks disgruntled about it, but I need some time with them, and surely he needs some time to talk to his friends without my presence.

'So who are we challenging tonight guys' I grin at my fellow initiates.

'I'm thinking that Huck guy' Ryder says with a smirk at me.

'Initiates can't challenge other initiates' I say with a smile, thankful that he's thought about it for me.

'You know if I could I would, though right?' he says seriously now his eyes locked on mine.

'I'm sure someone will, that isn't you guys or Eric' I say with a small smile hating how Eric wasn't allowed to challenge.

'I'm thinking maybe Four' Mark says with a grin at the leaders table.

We all burst out laughing then, and Mark can't help but join in at the ridiculousness of his statement.

'In all seriousness I'll probably leave the challenging to everyone else, maybe when we're full dauntless members I will, but I feel like the experience difference is too vast at the moment for me not to have my ass handed to me.' Sabby states coolly, with a shy little grin.

'I second that completely, I love sparring but actual fighting right now with full members would get us killed' I agree giving her a side hug.

'What if your challenged you'll look like such an idiot if you refuse' Jeremy says softly, making us all think about it.

We all sit in sombre silence for a little while, dreading the thought of having our asses so publicly handed to us before it's broken by a sneaky Sabby.

'So, Alex, tell us all about you and Eric' she says with a smirk.

The glare I send her could melt steel, but she just stares back smirking the whole time.

'I don't know we're happy I guess, it's nice' I summarize simply.

'And he's being nice to you right?' Jeremy and Mark both glare at me in accusation.

'Yes he's being nice to me, I'm telling you he's actually a really sweet guy' I glare back at them resisting the urge to stick my tongue out.

'Sure he's a kitten at heart' Ryder snorts.

I do stick my tongue out then, getting a childish satisfaction from it. Before going back to my giant roast beef sandwich, it's heavenly and I savour every bite hating how I only have minutes before I have to back to training.

Eventually it's time and I'm looking forward to sparring with Four, we all pile into the training room and Mark, Jeremy and Ryder all having sparred with Four offer us early condolences as Four calls out to start the warm ups.

Ten minutes later and he calls Sabby over, he gives her a few instructions I can't hear and then they go. We're all training individually on different equipment today, and I choose to practice on the bag so I can keep an eye on Sabby; she holds her own for about five minutes before Four lays her out with a well practiced move.

It's quick and brutal and I think the efficiency of it stuns a dazed Sabby who lays on her back staring at nothing in particular, Four gives her a hand to help her to her feet and with a grin she stumbles back over to us.

'He's wicked fast, he told me I'm being too defensive rather than offensive. Fancy letting me attack you?' she says still grinning in a daze.

'It's a date, right after Four flattens me?' I say with a laugh as Four calls me over.

'Deal' she grins back.

'I want you to go at me, don't hold back, as if this was a real fight' Four says sternly when I reach him.

'But in a real fight I'd want to hurt, this is just sparring?' I ask curiously.

'It is but it's also to asses your technique which I can't do if you don't fight to the best of your ability, even if you wanted to your not going to hurt me so I want you to go full tilt' he says with a rare but serious grin.

I give him a shrug thinking _what the hell_ I'm not going to hurt him, so I might as well go all out.

Four lunges at me and we're off circling each other, I keep trying to get under Four's guard but he keeps it too tight and he's too quick for me to slip in and out unnoticed without me exposing myself.

I figure out after a soft left jab that Four's speed is another level, Eric is fast but it's more about avoiding his hits; with Four if he swings you have to counter because he's too fast to avoid. _Unless Eric's just been holding out on me?_ I think with a snarl.

I keep going at Four, and even though so far he's only managed to get me twice, once was in an armbar that if I hadn't broken quickly enough could have led to him breaking my arm. We keep going and I decide there is no way I'm going to be able to take Four down from standing.

New course of action planned I try to take him to the ground, However Four is even faster on the mat. He dips and ducks out of me holds like a fish In water, while I struggle just to pin him. Eventually he pins me and I'm sweaty and out of breath panting harshly.

'You're like ridiculously fast' I manage to pant out.

'And considering you're Eric's I shouldn't be surprised you lasted as long as you did' he says with a grin getting of me.

'What do I need to work on?' I say seriously, overwhelmed by how out of my league Four is and how much Eric must have been holding back on me.

'Your speed and your accuracy is good, for you it'll be experience a couple of times you could have pinned me but your knowledge isn't there. You need to be exposed to a broader range of techniques, but we haven't moved on to that yet. For this stage you're excelling, for the next stage your mat work Is sloppy, and you haven't got the technique' He states bluntly.

While this is good, I don't like the idea of anything of mine being 'sloppy' and the thought of not knowing something irritates my former erudite brain.

'For now, just keep practising work on your defence some more as it's weaker than your offense, I'm guessing sparring with Eric is what's making your accuracy so good. He hits like a freight train' he smirks dismissing me.

I walk back over to Sabby happy, but also slightly dejected that I'm still not getting my defence right she greets me with a hug as Four calls someone else over.

'What did he say? You lasted way longer than any of us it must have been good' she says with a grin.

'lucky for both of us I need to work on my defence, we're a perfect pair' I say with a grin.

'Yay for us!' she grins back, and just the sight of is erases any dejection I might have been feeling we're all in this together.

For the rest of training I let Sabby attack me while I counter, it's strangely nice being able to sit back and defend rather than search for new ways to attack.

About an hour later Four calls time and finally training Is over for the day, bidding goodbye to my friends I head over to Eric, who I can see from here has enough food on his tray for four people.

Sitting down at the leaders table, I give everyone a smile before digging in.

'How was training?' Eric asks softly looking at me.

'It was good, Four handed me my ass you must seriously hold back when we train?' I say with a wink at Four, who shakes his head good naturedly.

'You sparred? What'd he say your not doing?' he asks seriously now food temporarily forgotten as he turns to glare at a now grinning Four.

'My mat work is sloppy, and I need to work on my defence' I say with a shrug, noticing the way Paul and Max are both now smirking at a glaring Eric.

'you shouldn't be on the mat yet' he glares harder speaking directly to Four now.

'She was the one who took it to the mat' Four grins in earnest now 'I love the protective side to you Coulter' he laughs before the braid lady gives him a sharp jab to the shoulder, which makes the laughing stop but not the smirking.

'I couldn't beat him standing up' I say with another shrug as realisation dawns in Eric's eyes.

'And I bet when you take Eric to the mat, he lets you pin him right' Max says outwardly laughing as Paul admirably tries to stifle his chuckles.

'He pins me more often than not, but I don't do that bad…' I say trailing off with a glare at a murderous looking Eric.

'Lexi…' he starts.

'You just let me pin you like every time don't you!' I hiss at him in outrage.

'Not every time' he grumbles, giving evil glares at the other side of the table where Four, Max and Paul now laugh in earnest at Eric being caught out.

'From now on Coulter no holding back, and no deliberately pinning me or letting me pin you. I want to be good at this which means you've got to help me be good' I growl at him angry, but also a little turned on.

'I didn't with your normal sparring, I only slowed so I didn't accidentally hurt you. Your not even going to start mat work till next week so I didn't seem the harm' he explains patiently, while daring the others to interrupt.

'Well no more!' I hiss back.

'Fine, no more but I won't bruise you.' his tone is uncompromising and I know it's the best I'll get.

'Thank you' I reply sweetly stealing his shortbread.

There is peaceful silence while I lick the chocolate off its soon broken however, by Paul making a soft whipping sound and Eric trying to lunge over the table at him while Four and Max laugh hysterically.

I can't help the laugh that explodes out of me when Paul falls of the bench in his desperation to get away while still laughing manically, Eric sits back down with a glare, but I see it crack the smallest bit when he see's my red laughing face.

 **What do you think? Next chapter is nearly ready so please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

It's way after dinner and after heading back to the dorms to shower change and grab some fresh clothes I head to Eric's so we can go to the tournament together.

I don't bother knocking as I know Eric will have left the door open for me, instead calling 'ERIC' loudly as I walk in.

I follow the sounds of his reply to the bedroom where he's just finishing getting dressed, he's in his formal dauntless leader gear and I have to say he looks hot.

His t-shirt is black with three white lines on the arms to signify leadership, three white stars hover over his pectoral to show the same thing and the shirt clings to his muscular chest. I try not to think about what the skin underneath felt like under my hands yesterday.

He shrugs on a leather jacket with the same stars and stripes, although it has the addition of his last name Coulter sewed on the back in white lettering.

'You look hot' I blurt the words out as I stare transfixed at his muscles moving while he shrugs on the jacket.

I cover my mouth in horror whishing I could pull the words back, he really doesn't need his ego rubbed by me.

Eric just smirks at my discomfort looking pleased with my assessment of him before his gaze turns to me, I'm wearing some worn black high waisted jeans I bought when we went shopping and a tight white t-shirt tucked into them. Paired with my black boots, I look casual but classy. For dauntless anyway.

Eric examines me slowly from head to toe before bringing his gaze to meet mine 'and you look like you're mine' he smirks back taking a hard but sadly short bruising kiss from me.

He looks at me hard for another moment, before stepping back and and shrugging off his jacket stepping behind me to hold it open.

'Wear this for me' he says a demand not a question.

'Why?' I ask curious, even as I shrug it on it's warm and comfortable and smells like Eric, it's not like I'd complain.

'It's a message to everyone, Four's wife normally wears his and I find I like my name on you' his smirk turns predatory as I do a twirl in front of the mirror.

'I'm not your wife, I'm not even a full member of dauntless yet' I say shocked at the possession in his eyes, if I ever had any doubt as to his intentions with me this would clear them right up.

'But you will be' his eyes turn molten as he grins at me, pure self-assured male.

Choosing to ignore the double meaning behind that statement, I ask 'Do you think you'll get challenged tonight?'

'Maybe I'll get one or two, it's not a rarity but it doesn't happen that often' he shrugs unconcerned as we leave his apartment to head towards the pit.

'Do you think I'll get challenged tonight?' I say as we wander down the corridor.

'I don't think anyone will challenge you, it's rare for a full dauntless member to challenge an initiate, it's not a rule as such but it's not normally done unless someone has a serious grudge to bear. It's unfair to the initiate as they have to fight as part of their training and won't have the same experience' he shrugs it off unconcerned.

'That does make me feel better I guess' I smile as Eric smirks at the relief on my face

'No-one is that stupid Lexi, but even if they were I have no doubts you'd come out on top' he winks giving me a tiny grin.

I reach up to steal a quick kiss making his grin turn dark as we enter the pit, the room is so crowded that I can barely see the ring that's been set up in the middle. People are standing around drinking and dancing while they wait for the fights to start there is a thick sense of anticipation in the room that's almost worrying.

I see Sabby and the others in the corner laughing and as soon as she see's me she waves me over motioning to the pink fruity drink she has in her hand, I nod with a grin and she says something to Ryder who gives me a sarcastic bow and wanders off in the direction of the bar.

'I'm going to go see Sabby, want to come?' I say to Eric.

'I've got to go and do an announcement with Lauren, but I'll come over after, Paul's heading over to you guys anyway' he says gesturing at Lauren and Max the former standing at the edge of the ring an impatient tilt to her eye.

It's then I see Paul making a route to Sabby I smile and let go of Eric sadly, then I'm off to Sabby and my yummy fruity drink.

Paul does a double take at my jacket, but the others don't seem to notice anything, and Paul seems to be unable to stop grinning after he sees it so I take it as a good sign. He's wearing a similar jacket himself but his only has one star and one stripe, which I take to mean he's a lower level of seniority than Eric.

It's a few minutes later and drinks in hand we are all laughing over a story Paul is telling, about being caught by Max halfway through his training binge eating chocolate cake. We all have drinks that are yummy although the boys are drinking the vile tasting beer, when a booming voice explodes through the hall.

'LADIES AND GENTLEMEN' Max's voice cuts off chatter as everyone goes silent.

'Before I hand you over to my fellow leaders I just want to say thank you all for making an effort to be here, and to remind you all that we are dauntless let's act like it.' A cheer goes up and Max holds up his hand smiling ' I want you to remember that tonight! And have fun' he shouts out the last word getting a deafening cheer from the crowd as he hops out of the ring.

Then it's Eric's turn he moves to the middle of the ring and the crowd goes silent.

'Tonight, is about letting off some steam, and being able to show off to your friends without consequence. However, there are rules, and for those who don't follow those rules there will be consequences.' Eric says seriously.

It's then I realise why Eric had to speak, he was there to quietly intimidate anyone who had ideas of turning this fun tournament into something it wasn't. Make sure everybody knew that it'd be him dishing out the punishment, and that it would be severe.

'I expect everyone to have fun tonight, Lauren is going to go over the rules now. Stick to them. But overall have a goodtime, this is a time for celebration enjoy yourselves' he finishes off looking overall uncomfortable at the huge crowd of people just staring at him.

Cupping my mouth with my hands and nudging Sabby, we both let out huge WHOOOOPP's catcalling a shocked Eric, after that Paul and the boys join in and soon everyone is cheering and clapping him out of the ring.

'You're so going to get in trouble for that' Paul whispers in my ear grinning.

I shrug unconcerned with a laugh as Eric stalks through the crowd towards us, glaring at me murderously.

'That wasn't nice Lexi' he growls murderously when he reaches me.

'I thought it was very nice' I say with a grin my co-conspirator Sabby.

He stares at me for a second incredulous before he bursts out laughing, right there in the middle of the pit in front of everyone, he gives me a huge belly laugh that warms me right to the bottom of my heart. I can't help but grin and then giggle as he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, so he can dangle me upside down.

'You're such a brat' I hear from my inverted position, the warmth in his voice unmistakable.

'You looked so cold and awkward, I had to do something' I giggle staring at the shoes of my friends who have gathered around to laugh. Traitors.

'So you catcalled me' he growls out no real anger in his tone, just pure amusement.

The blood is rushing to my head and I can't help but try to sit up, but he keeps me there as I scowl up at him.

'I have no regrets' I smirk up at him.

'Really none even though you're currently upside down?' he smirks back.

'Alright maybe I should have cheered, instead of catcalled' I admit petulantly.

He sets me upright holding me for a second while I get over my dizziness, I glare at him accordingly, but he just rolls his eyes. Sabby passes me back my drink that obviously she'd grabbed off me in the earlier confusion and I sip it happily.

'That wasn't nice' I glare at a still smirking Eric.

'Really? I thought it was very nice' he says innocently mirroring my earlier words.

I can't help but laugh and Eric's small smile tells me he's not really mad anyway, we head over to a seating area set up for the leaders with a ringside view and Paul and Sabby go to get fresh drinks.

We sit on the sofa as the fights begin, it starts off with one person jumping into the ring and calling out their challenger who then makes their way down. The fights continue until one person either submits or is unable to continue.

I don't recognise any of the early challengers and Eric tells me they are younger member of dauntless, eager to try to prove themselves. Sabby and Paul come back and Eric looking very innocent pulls me into his lap to make 'room' for them to sit next to us on the sofa.

'Smooth move Coulter' I whisper happy and comfortable even if I'm unwilling to show it.

He grins in response and the next few fights I watch with intrigue, me and Sabby ask Paul and Eric questions when they come up and the whole evening is turning out to be a fun one, we laugh we drink it's a heady thing to indulge in. Unfortunately, there is no dancing, but I get to watch hot sweaty guys beat each other up, which in my book Is just as good.

'PAUL TAYLOR' a beefy guy exclaims loudly from the middle of the circle.

At first I don't realise that it's our Paul and I keep chatting to Sabby happily, then Paul gets up with a grin throwing his jacket in Eric's face and strutting to the circle.

'Can Paul take this guy?' I whisper to Eric keeping my eye on a suddenly nervous Sabby.

Eric grins at me then 'Paul has you all fooled he's a leader for a reason Lexi'

Paul saunters into the circle cool calm and collected, he grins back at us giving Sabby a wink before he's off. Ten minutes later the other guy is out cold and Paul still grinning, saunters back over to us not even sweaty.

'That was….' Sabby trails off.

'Unexpected.' I finish giving Paul a look.

The way he took out that guy was done cool and calm, he didn't lose his temper, he didn't mock him it was like his personality was a separate thing to him as a fighter; and while his speed didn't match Four's it was still pretty impressive.

I could use Paul as a good middle ground training partner when I had finished training, he wasn't as fast or strong as Eric but still faster and stronger than me so that if he went at me full tilt I probably wouldn't die.

I'm pondering this as Paul sits down next to Sabby and she stares at him in shock, he gives a very smug smile to a still smirking Eric.

'You're like really good' Sabby manages to get out.

'What did you expect?' he asks sounding a little offended now, especially as Eric can't help but let out a snort from beneath me.

'I mean you're so nice, and I've never even see you get mad at someone' she stammers out still in shock.

Paul shrugs good naturedly still giving that smug smile at Sabby, she snaps out of her daze however and gives him a glare instead opening her mouth to accuse him of something, he interrupts her quickly.

'Why don't we go get another drink' he stands offering his hand, she grabs it and with a wink from me she lets him lead her away.

Two minutes later… I see Paul pushing her into the bar as they kiss furiously.

'That was fast' I say to Eric gesturing to them.

'it was watching him fight' he grins taking another sip of his drink.

'I've never seen you fight anyone but me' I ponder curious as to what my reaction would be.

The look Eric shoots me assures me that I'd enjoy it and he'd enjoy me watching it, but before we can investigate the newly created heat between us I hear a name called.

'ALEX GIOVANNI'

I look at Eric in shock, and we're standing up before my brain can fully process what just happened. Max is next to us the next instant and the look Eric shoots him sends shivers down my spine.

'She has no reason to do this' Eric growls his anger icy hot, a burn against my skin.

'She can always refuse' Max says wincing as he says it.

'I won't look like a coward' I say shrugging off Eric's jacket and handing it to him, I grab the sides of the rope and launch myself over.

'LEXI' I heard shouted from behind me, but there's nothing he can do, I've accepted the challenge now I just need to get out of it conscious.

I need to prove to all the dauntless members surrounding me that I'm strong enough to be by Eric's side, and also to myself that I won't be the weakness people look for in Eric. I'm also not sure I could ever show my face again if I didn't accept, which is obviously what my opponent is counting on.

Taking a deep breath, I turn to my challenger. Cindy.

 **Reviews make me happy! The next chapter is looking really juicy guys so please get back to me so I can post it 😊**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

We walk into the middle of the ring silently to touch hands.

'We'll see if Eric wants you when I've beaten you to a pulp, he's always despised weakness' she whispers to me softly as we touch hands and back away.

Suddenly I despise this woman, I'm a new initiate she has nothing to prove yet she's challenged me just to try and 'win' Eric. She could hurt me enough that I can't continue training and it's all over a guy she slept with once?

My anger surges and I hold onto it, letting it make me stronger. Then she's flying at me, she tackles me hard and I crumple underneath her weight we roll until she's straddling me quickly I manage to get my knee's up and throw her off getting to my feet.

My cheek aches where she must have hit me when we went down but I put the pain in a little box to be dealt with later, her fists are flying with great speed and accuracy and she's putting a lot of weight behind each one. I can't even blink for fear I'll miss.

Unfortunately for her I've sparred with Eric everyday since I've been here and any hits she manages to land feel like butterfly kisses compared to even one of his, and that's with him holding back. I manage to dodge most of them and I get the feeling her stamina isn't what it used to be, I can feel her tiring even if it's only minute.

Taking a risk, I distract her with a left hook quickly jabbing with my right as well, she manages to dodge both, but she's forgotten to watch my feet. My leg arches perfectly as I deliver a strong left kick right to her face it's hard; and she drops rolling into the blow, but my anger guides me and the next minute I'm on her.

I kick her abdomen making her curl, but she grabs my foot at the last minute bringing me down onto the mat with her she tries to roll me but I pin her using my legs, she's nowhere near as strong as Eric or Four and I manage to hold her long enough to get my arms free.

Breaking my hold she rolls out from underneath me and I get up quickly, she's shaky and the right side of her face is breaking out in an ugly bruise blood is leaking from the right side of her nose.

I grin at her mushed up face and she touches it and shrieks angrily charging me she drops low, my adrenaline is fading and my face is throbbing way worse than it should be making a snap decision I take an even bigger risk than before.

It paid off last time and again I don't disappoint myself, I dodge at the last minute evading her taking me to the ground but not her arms circling my waist. Using all the strength in my body I bring my knee up hard and slam it home right in her nose, her whole body jerks backwards and she drops on her back not knocked out but close enough that she's not getting up anytime soon.

I breath deeply staring at her and suddenly the noise around me filters in I can hear everybody cheering me on.

I can hear Sabby shouting 'Kill THE BITCH ALEX!' from all the way across the ring.

I can hear all the boys cheering for me 'YES ALEX! SHOW HER HOW IT'S DONE' I hear from a smugly excited Ryder.

But the most satisfying cheer to hear is Eric's brutal 'YES LEXI!' it's loud and triumphant and passionate and everything that I know Eric is.

I look round the ring till I find him clinging to the side, I run for him smiling and jumping into his arms.

'I knew you'd take her!' he smiles at me as I throw my head back and laugh long and loud letting out the stress of the fight.

He twirls me around wildly and I cling to him giggling and squealing until he puts me on my feet.

'You were amazing' he tells me something like awe in his tone, as he set's his jacket back over my shoulders so I can slip into it, he brushes my throbbing face gently and I fight a wince as his eyes get dark.

We're interrupted however by my gaggle of boys swarming me Ryder crushes me to him in a bone crushing hug before Jeremy then mark steal me away, all of them shouting how cool I am loudly to the room around them.

I laugh and thank them as I'm practically passed from person to person, finally I'm grabbed by a grinning Paul who puts me down in front of him as Sabby jumps me.

'I knew you'd crush that bitch!' she yells loudly as we both laugh.

We eventually separate and Eric has found us, he still looks happy but maybe a little disgruntled at having me stolen so quickly.

'I'm glad you won, our boy here was practically biting his nails in worry' Pauls laughs as Eric flips him off.

'Funny he looked like he wanted to murder someone to me' I grin still panting at a now scowling Eric.

'She was out of line to challenge you Lexi' he growls looking in Cindy's direction and then back at my face.

'Hey' I grab his face 'I won!' I say with a huge grin.

He manages a small lip twist back but it doesn't reach his eyes, I look to Paul for support but he's also glaring.

'She shouldn't have done it Alex' he says sombrely him and Eric silently communicating.

'Hey! Both of you, I won her plan backfired and here I stand no long-term injuries, I look strong I feel strong and most importantly she looks like an idiot. So, let's celebrate!' I smile grabbing Sabby and twirling her both of us laughing.

Their glacial expressions crack just a smidge then, and I drag Eric to me as we swing around I sing loudly and out of tune from his arms as we dance around, but he doesn't let me go or make me stop he just gives me his half grin expression holding me tighter or twirling me.

I'm feeling goofy happy, when ignoring the ache in my face, and I'm just about to suggest to Eric that we go and get more drinks when yet again our moment is ruined by an idiot in the ring.

'ERIC COULTER' a huge mammoth of a guy smirks leaning over side of the ring to grab our attention.

' We just cannot get a break' I glare at the guy as Eric perks up, looking like he's just won a puppy.

'Make it quick Coulter' I growl out as the guy starts taunting him.

'Hey Alex, when I beat Coulter how about you come warm my bed, I'll show you how a real man pleases a fighter like you' mammoth man slimes out.

I barely hold back my shiver of revulsion and unfortunately can't hold back my blush at his crude words, Eric's eyes go to steel and he smiles. Not his proper smile full of light but instead a dark smile telling me he's picturing himself covered in this guys blood, this smile is much more practiced.

'He'll pay for that Lexi' Eric says softly his dark but weirdly attractive smile still in place.

'Give him hell giant' I whisper in his ear before he turns to leap back into the ring.

I go back to the leader's area where Paul hands me a glass of what I'm betting is a good whiskey, Sabby grabs my hand in support but I don't bother telling her I don't need it instead I turn to the ring to watch Eric demolish this guy.

The fight starts out slow and it's nothing like when me and Eric spar, there are no jokes or grins when the other guy makes a mistake or executes a move particularly well. Eric is like a coldly furious tornado.

He moves faster than I've ever seen him move, dodging punches and rolling away from kicks like he's not even trying. Mammoth man gets angrier and angrier, he's taking all of Eric's hits but he isn't managing to deliver any and even though Eric's face is a blank slate I can see in his eyes how much he's enjoying it.

The fight picks up pace as mammoth man desperately tries to land a blow, and I can't help but squirm as I watch Eric evade them all successfully; there is something almost magical about watching him fight it's a show of strength that my body can't help but appreciate.

I get more and more turned on the longer the fight goes on, and by the time Eric delivers the powerful knockout and the guy is laid cold on the floor, I'm a hot mess.

Everyone cheers as Eric climbs out of the ring, he steps out near me and starts to make his way over. We make eye contact and time stops, his eyes blaze as he practically runs for me. I meet him halfway jumping him and wrapping my legs tightly around his waist.

There are no words as his mouth takes mine, his tongue is rough and brutal, and he's still so hopped up from his fight I can practically taste the adrenaline running through him. We clash in a furious explosion of passion, as he yanks my legs tighter around him his hands clasping my ass in a bruising grip.

I pull his head closer gripping his hair and pulling it hard, he growls into the kiss and I feel it in my throat. Just as I'm about to reach under me and grab his shirt we are interrupted however by a very smug Max who Is evidently trying not to laugh.

'This is a public place Eric, and as a leader you have to set an example. That example is not having sex in the middle of the pit' Max says sternly although you can hear the pure amusement in his voice.

Eric looks bewildered for a second before he looks around at the crowds of people, all who seem to be grinning at us. He releases my legs and I drop down still panting, somewhere in my mind I can hear part of me crying out mortified, but I choose to ignore her focusing on Eric.

While he's been looking around the room a strong glare has settled on his face, reminding the spectators exactly who he is and why he isn't to be laughed at. By the time he turns back to me his glare is firmly established and would scare off a lesser woman.

However, I've always liked the surly side of Eric and as soon as our eyes meet again I'm lost, he grabs my hand his jaw tight as he practically drags me from the pit. I don't even have the presence of mind to look for Sabby or Paul or say goodnight to any of my friends as we all but run back to Eric's apartment.

Eric opens the door quickly and I follow shutting it behind me, he turns to me questions in his eyes that I have no time for. Instead I fling myself at him moulding my mouth to his desperately, and we pick up right where we left off as he pushes me into the bedroom.

His mouth still glued to mine I fall backwards onto the bed his body a scalding weight pressing me down, his hands trail my body impatiently and I return the caress as we all but rip each others clothes off desperate for that skin on skin feeling.

Soon enough we get there our gazes locking as all of a sudden there is no rush, Eric's mouth takes mine slowly as he slowly sinks into me; I feel a bite of pain that has me tensing but Eric soothes me lathering my face and neck in kisses and whispering soft and smutty things in my ear.

It's a beautiful moment and one I'll never forget as my body softens around Eric once again, he waits for what seems like an eternity until I'm pushing him to move grabbing his hips and scoring his back until I'm sure It's got to be hurting him.

Eric seems to like it though as he growls in my mouth whenever I feel like I've grabbed him particularly hard, the momentum builds until the pressure is too much to take and both of us are panting hard.

Eric reaches down to rub at me and I shatter just as he takes my mouth, absorbing my cry into the kiss he follows me over giving me a soft groan I drink in like I'm starving.

Rolling off me the room is silent apart from our heavy breathing, I roll on my side turning to Eric a cheesy smile on my face. He turns to me his face soft his eyes impossibly softer, and I know that what we have is real and beautiful and ours.

Drawing patterns on Eric's chest I take a minute to just absorb the gravity of the moment it's not something I'll ever experience again, and I love the depth of intimacy between us.

It's funny how Eric makes me feel, like i'm special, like i'm cherished for the first time since I've been at dauntless.

I feel loved.

Ahh i hope you guys enjoyed this one, I've had such major writers block but i'm happy that I've got his one out. Please review i'd love some idea's.


End file.
